TRANSPORT

Cycling

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his Department's strategy for (a) increasing cycle journeys and (b) reducing cycling injuries and deaths.

David Jamieson: We are improving cycling infrastructure and have initiated the Cycling Projects Fund to give over £4 million for local cycling facilities and training. On the safety front, we are promoting training and measures which cyclists can take to protect themselves, such as making themselves conspicuous. We are also improving training and testing for motorists.

Euro

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in how many speeches during 2003 he declared support for the Government's policy on the euro.

Tony McNulty: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 12 January 2004, Official Report, columns 516–17W by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary.

Inter-city Services (Waterloo)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport by what routes passengers will be able to travel from Manchester to Waterloo to connect with the Eurostar following the withdrawal of existing services; and whether the Newport to Waterloo service will be withdrawn in May.

Tony McNulty: Passengers can travel to London Euston and connect with London Underground services to Waterloo, a journey of around 3 hours 20 minutes (the Manchester—London Waterloo direct service takes over six hours). Direct services between Newport and London Waterloo will be withdrawn from May. However, alternative services will continue to operate to London Paddington.

DEFENCE

Communications

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Cormorant system will enter into service; and what delays have occurred in the programme.

Adam Ingram: The Cormorant Communication System has an approved in-service date of May 2004 which is expected to be achieved. This will be some 19 months later than the latest date originally approved for entry into service.

Decoy Munitions

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which contractors tendered for the design, development, build and supply of cartridge RF distraction Mark 216 Model 3; when the winner will be announced; when production will commence; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 13 January 2004
	The closing date for receipt of bids from industry to supply the Seagnat 216 Model 3 RF Distraction Round was 18 December 2003. I am withholding further details in accordance with Exemption 7 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information as the tender evaluation process is at a very early stage and is classified Commercial in Confidence. It is anticipated that the contract will be let by the end of May 2004, enabling production to commence to meet the stated in service date for the round, which is December 2007.

Defence Information Infrastructure Programme

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what funding is being made available to the Defence Information Infrastructure (Future) Deployed programme.

Adam Ingram: We are continuing to investigate the full requirement and costs for an enhanced Defence Information Infrastructure (DII) (Future-Deployed) capability, and no formal budget has yet been approved. Funding for some elements of the programme will come from existing provision for in-service systems that DII (Future-Deployed) will subsume, such as updates to current Navy and Army administrative information systems. Any additional funding required will be sought through the normal departmental resource planning process.
	The Ministry of Defence is also investing significantly in other programmes to develop our information infrastructure for deployed operations, such as Skynet 5 (satellite communications services); Cormorant (voice and data communications services to support Joint Rapid Reaction force deployments); Falcon (tactical formation level secure communications), and Bowman (tactical secure voice and data system).

Leak Inquiries

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what inquiries his Department has conducted into alleged leaks from members of staff since 1997; and on what occasions the names of those persons accused of leaking information from his Department have been made public (a) by the Government and (b) by way of another source.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 12 January 2004
	Since 1997, the Ministry of Defence has investigated 47 suspected leaks. In line with exemptions l(a) and 7(b) set out in Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, it has been the practice of successive Governments not to comment on the outcome of such inquiries in order to safeguard security and investigative arrangements.

Major Ian Hill

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the findings of the Cheshire Coroner, regarding the death of Major Ian Hill; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: We are aware of the Cheshire Coroner's conclusion of 24 November 2003 as to the death of Edward Ian Hill. To facilitate our understanding of the Cheshire Coroner's conclusion, officials wrote to him on 19 December 2003 under the Coroner Rules of 1984, requesting copies of reports of the post mortem examination and any special examinations, notes of evidence and documents put in evidence at the inquest. We understand that delivery of the letter was delayed. The Coroner has confirmed that he is dealing with our request.

Medical Flights

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many medical flights, involving civilians, were conducted by military aircraft between Scotland and other parts of the United Kingdom in each of the last five years.

Ivor Caplin: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	We do not hold information about Medevac flights in a form which allows easy analysis of the point of origin and final destination of each trip. Those flights which cross the borders between Scotland and other parts of the United Kingdom are thought to be few in number and mainly confined to transplant patients.

Microsoft

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether negotiations between his Department and Microsoft regarding future licensing arrangements have been completed; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence has now completed negotiations with Microsoft regarding the continuation of future licensing arrangements for a range of software products (the 'Enterprise Agreement'). However, formal signature has not been completed at this stage. The new licensing arrangements will deliver savings to the Department and will come into effect in April 2004.

MOD Police Pensions

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason employment services with the armed service is not considered relevant for pensions entitlement for employees who transfer to the MOD police.

Ivor Caplin: Under the rules of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme, a civil servant whose pensionable service begins on or after 1 January 1986 may apply in writing to bring in a transfer value in respect of any accrued pension benefits within 12 months of the date on which he or she takes up pensionable service in the PCSPS.
	The Public Sector Transfer Club (the Club) consists of a number of occupational pension schemes which have agreed reciprocal transfer arrangements. The Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) is a participant of the Club. Members joining the PCSPS before 6 April 1988 had to apply for a Club transfer within six months of becoming a member. Members joining after 6 April 1988 have to apply within 12 months of doing so.
	Before this, arrangements were set up in 1979 to enable transfer between the AFPS and the PCSPS under which those who had left the armed forces on or after 1 April 1975 without immediate pension benefits could apply for a transfer into the PCSPS. The deadline for applications was 30 June 1980.

Reserve Forces

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many appeals have been made by employers against compulsory call-out notices to their employees in each of the last five years; and how many of those appeals were allowed in each year. [R]

Ivor Caplin: As at 12 January 2004 only 41 employers had lodged an appeal against the compulsory call-out of their employees under the appeals procedure set out in Part IX of the Reserve Forces Act 1996. Of these, seven were awarded to the Service authority, one was awarded to the employer, one remained outstanding and 32 were withdrawn before going to appeal. All of these appeals were lodged in 2003.

Reserve Forces

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many compulsory call-out notices were issued to serving members of the Territorial Army in 2003; and how many of the recipients were actually mobilised. [R]

Ivor Caplin: During 2003 9,765 compulsory call-out notices were issued to serving members of the Territorial Army. Of these, 6,681 were subsequently mobilised.

Reserve Forces

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many individuals have been mobilised after receiving a compulsory call-out notice more than once in the last three years. [R]

Ivor Caplin: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Reserve Forces

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Territorial Army mobilised after receiving a compulsory call-out notice have served for (a) up to four months, (b) four to six months, (c) six months to one year and (d) over one year in the last three years. [R]

Ivor Caplin: The number of Territorial Army personnel who have been mobilised, during the period 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2003, after receiving a compulsory call-out notice is shown according to length of service in the table.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Up to four months 3,259 
			 Four to six months 1,573 
			 Six months to one year 3,137 
			 Over one year 43

Reserve Forces

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his written statement of 7 January 2004, Official Report, column 9–10WS, on reserve forces, what his policy is in respect of (a) full-time regular Service and (b) compulsory call-out when making provision for medium-sized operations of low intensity. [R]

Ivor Caplin: The reserve forces are an integral part of the United Kingdom's military capability for a wide variety of different types of operations. Many factors will determine the number of reservists required to support a particular operation and whether it is necessary to mobilise reservists compulsorily. These factors include: the size of the operation; other concurrent operations; the time available to set up and train a force before deployment; the expected length of a particular operation; the individual skills and trades required; and the pool of people available with the requisite qualifications.

Reserve Forces

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) Territorial Army, (b) Royal Naval Reserve and (c) RAF Reserve personnel remain available for mobilisation.

Ivor Caplin: holding answer 13 January 2004
	As at 1 December 2003, the following Volunteer Reserve personnel were available for mobilisation:
	Territorial Army: 28,400
	Royal Navy Reserve: 2,670
	Royal Marines Reserve: 750
	Royal Auxiliary Air Force: 1,300.
	These figures include untrained strengths (while untrained, they have a call-out liability), but exclude those who are currently mobilised, those serving on Full Time Reserve Service, Additional Duties Commitment and members of the Officer Training Corps.

Reserve Forces

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been paid in (a) reservist standard award and (b) reservist hardship award to mobilised reservists in each of the last five years; and how many individuals were involved in each case. [R]

Ivor Caplin: The information requested is not centrally held and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Reserve Forces

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what changes to reservist standard award are planned; and when they will be implemented. [R]

Ivor Caplin: The Defence White Paper made clear that work is in hand to produce new regulations governing the award of both Reservist Standard Award and Reservists Hardship Award. The new regulations will take into account the lessons arising from the mobilisation for Iraq. It is too early to state what the finalised proposals might be. However, once the MOD has completed our deliberations we plan to publish a consultation document to seek the views of interested parties prior to the issue of the final regulations.

Service Children's Education

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many children currently benefit from boarding school allowance; and what the cost of the scheme is in 2003–04.

Ivor Caplin: The cost of the scheme in each of the school terms in 2003 is as follows:
	
		
			 Term Number of children Cost (£) 
		
		
			 Spring 2003 (January-March) 4,332 13,660,611.01 
			 Summer 2003 (April-July) 4,406 13,655,127.27 
			 Autumn 2003 (September-December) 4,277 14,744,626.76 
			 Total cost  42,060,365.04

Service Children's Education

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the funding per pupil by Service Children's Education was in each of the last five years.

Ivor Caplin: The Agency's Annual Report and Accounts for the past five years contain details of the Annual Operating Costs of Service Children's Education (SCE) together with the pupil numbers served. Copies of these are available in the Library of the House.
	It is not possible to provide the information in the format requested. The Quinquennial Review Team recognised that simple cost comparisons between Service Children's Education (SCE) and local education authorities in the United Kingdom cannot be made due to a number of factors. These include the differences in funding mechanisms between the two parent Departments, the accounting requirements placed on SCE as a Defence Agency, and most notably the additional costs incurred by the Agency brought about by operating in an overseas environment.
	In addition to the Annual Reports, a series of cost calculations showing a number of different tabulations for pupil costs are contained at Annex E to the Quinquennial Report published in May 2003, a copy is which is available in the Library of the House.

Service Children's Education

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the academic and education targets set for Service Children's Education schools in each of the last five years, and what assessment he has made of the extent to which these targets have been met or exceeded.

Ivor Caplin: In common with other Defence Agencies, Service Children's Education publishes its Annual Report and Accounts each year. The Agency's Key Targets and performance against them are contained within these documents, copies of which are held in the Library of the House. The Annual Report covering 2002–03 is scheduled for publication in January 2004.

Tornado

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether all the rear weapon suspension points on all the shoulder pylons fitted to RAF Tornado GR4 aircraft fully comply with Military Standard 1760; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Military Standard 1760 is specifically concerned with the location of electrical connector access points in relation to the weapon suspension points on the shoulder pylons. Due to space constraints the weapon electrical connector access points cannot be located at the position defined by Military Standard 1760 on the Tornado GR4. NATO Stanag 3558 does however, provide the option to locate the electrical connector at either the Military Standard 1760 position or at a specified alternative location; it is this alternative that has been utilised on the Tornado GR4.

WALES

Government of Wales Act

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what functions have been transferred to the National Assembly for Wales pursuant to section 22 of the Government of Wales Act 1998 since 1998.

Peter Hain: The functions are too numerous to list but they can be found in the following National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Orders:
	1999 No.672: which made the initial transfer of the functions of the Secretary of State for Wales to the Assembly;
	1999 No.2787: which transferred functions under the Water Industry Act 1999;
	2000 No.253: which made amendments to the original 1999 Order;
	2000 No.1830: which entitled the Assembly to be joined as a party in relevant Human Rights Act cases;
	2001 No.3679: which relates to Intervention Board functions.

Procurement

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on his Department's procurement policy with regard to offshore IT and call centre outsourcing; whether his Department is outsourcing IT and call centre jobs to offshore companies; to which countries his Department has outsourced these jobs; how much his Department has spent on this outsourcing in each of the last two years; and how much has been budgeted for this purpose for the next two years.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office has not outsourced any jobs to offshore companies and has no plans to do so in the future.

Richard Commission Report

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the First Minister of the National Assembly for Wales on the forthcoming Richard Commission report.

Peter Hain: The First Minister and I meet regularly and we have discussed the Richard Commission on a number of these occasions.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Live Music Forum

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the remit of the Government's taskforce The Live Music Forum; and whether it extends to Northern Ireland.

Estelle Morris: The Live Music Forum will work with the music industry and other key stakeholders to:
	1. take forward the Ministerial commitment to maximise the take-up of reforms in the Licensing Act 2003 relating to the performance of live music;
	2. promote the performance of live music generally;
	3. monitor and evaluate the impact of the Licensing Act 2003 on the performance of live music; and
	4. make recommendations for further action.
	The Licensing Act 2003 applies to England and Wales. Therefore, the Live Music Forum's remit extends only to those countries.

Ofcom

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what the projected total annual salary bill of Ofcom is for its first year of operation;
	(2)  how many Ofcom employees will have an annual salary of £100,000 or over;
	(3)  how many people will be employed by Ofcom;
	(4)  what the estimated total cost is of setting up Ofcom;
	(5)  if she will estimate the (a) set-up and (b) annual running costs of the Ofcom buildings.

Estelle Morris: These are matters for the Office of Communications (Ofcom). DCMS officials have, therefore, asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to respond directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the Chief Executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agricultural Support

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the level of (a) Green Box support, (b) Amber Box support and (c) Blue Box support is from the UK Government to agriculture.

Alun Michael: The level of agricultural support, categorised by Green, Amber and Blue boxes, is notified to the World Trade Organisation for the European Union and is not separately identified by member state. The latest published notification of domestic support for the European Union is for the marketing year 1999–2000 and records the level of Green Box support as Euro 19.9 billion; Amber Box Euro 47.9 billion; and Blue Box Euro 19.8 billion.

Climate Change

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will assess the implications for the United Kingdom of the article on climate change impacts in the United Kingdom and other countries over the next half century by Professor Chris Thomas of Leeds University, published in Nature in January.

Elliot Morley: The article in Nature indicated that about a quarter of the land species in the areas studied could be committed to extinction in 2050 under mid-range global climate warming scenarios. However the article did not provide a prediction for extinction rates in the UK.
	The Department, along with the devolved Administrations, statutory nature conservation agencies and non-governmental organisations, is contributing to an ongoing research programme on the impacts of climate change on biodiversity in the UK. Results suggest that as climate changes, the distribution of species and the composition of habitats will change. With warmer temperatures, some northern species are likely to retreat, while southern species may be able to expand their ranges. Movement of some species may be strongly impeded by our highly fragmented landscapes, possibly leading to local extinctions.
	The Department also plans to commission an update of its "Review of the impact of climate change on UK species and habitat conservation (2000)". The latter report is available on the internet www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/climatechange/nature/index.htm and will be placed in the Library of the House.

Departmental Relocation

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment her Department has made of the benefits of relocation of staff to North Staffordshire; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment her Department has made of the effect of possible relocation of staff in her Department to North Staffordshire on (a) job creation, (b) sustainable development, (c) the local economy and (d) tackling regional economic disparities; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what assessment she has made of the effect of proposals to relocate Government jobs on the Department's ability to meet (a) departmental policy objectives and (b) departmental public service agreements;
	(4)  what plans she has to establish procedures for assessing the impact of possible re-location of staff in her Department to the regions; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 516W.

Euro

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in how many speeches during 2003 she declared support for the Government's policy on the euro.

Alun Michael: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 516W.

European Definitions (Fruit and Vegetables)

Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance she will provide to fruit and vegetable retailers following the Law Lords' decision on the case against Asda relating to European Union definitions of fruit and vegetables.

Alun Michael: No new guidance is required. The Law Lords' decision does not affect either the EU marketing standards themselves or the existing obligations of fruit and vegetable retailers. Guidance is already available from Defra's Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate, who advise on and enforce the standards, and from the Defra website http://www.defra.gov.uk/hort/hmi.htm. Information on this site includes copies of the standards, contact details for inspectors and a retailers' guide.

Food Exporters

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what sums were made available to (a) UK and (b) EU companies for the restitution of funds to assist with exporting costs in each of the last three years.

Alun Michael: During the years 2001, 2002 and 2003 the Rural Payments Agency paid approximately £125.4 million, £138.7 million and £170.2 million respectively in export refunds to companies claiming in the United Kingdom.
	For the whole of the European Union, payments made during 2000 and 2001 amounted to 5.6 billion euros and Euro 3.4 billion respectively. The figure for 2003 is not yet available.

GM Rice

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice she has received from the Advisory Committee on Releases into the Environment on the proposal by Bayer to import GM rice into the EU for processing and animal feed.

Elliot Morley: The application by Bayer for the importation of herbicide tolerant rice (event LLRICE62) into the European Union is being considered under the procedures set out in Directive 2001/18/EC. The UK is the lead member state and therefore undertakes the initial assessment. The Government has been advised by ACRE that "This GM rice does not pose a risk to human health and the environment. The marketing of this product for importation and processing in the UK will be no different from that of other rice imported for processing and animal feed purposes. In coming to this conclusion ACRE have taken account of the advice of the Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs (ACAF). ACRE also recommends that reports of post market monitoring for general surveillance of this product be provided to the regulatory authorities on an annual basis". The complete ACRE advice is available on the Defra website at: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/gm/regulation/euconsent.htm.
	The application and the UK's assessment will now be assessed by other EU member states and the Commission before a collective decision is made. Consent, if granted, would not permit cultivation of the rice in the EU nor, without separate approval, could it be used in human food.

Horse Passport

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether a veterinary inspection and certification is necessary prior to the issue of a horse passport.

Alun Michael: No.

Horse Passport

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the horse passport regulations apply to the wild horses on Bodmin Moor.

Alun Michael: Yes.

Horse Passport

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to change the requirement for veterinary certification on horse passports.

Alun Michael: The silhouette on a passport must be signed by a veterinary surgeon or someone deemed competent to do so by the Passport Issuing Organisation. This is clearly the intention of the legislation but recently we became aware that some passport issuing organisations were allowing individual horse owners to complete and sign the silhouette. Independent verification is clearly essential. In underlining this point to the organisations I have proposed that the owner may complete the silhouette provided a microchip is inserted at the same time. This reflects our approach of working with the industry and seeking to be practical rather than gold plating the legislation.

Marine Stewardship Report

Mohammad Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has made to introduce legislation to protect and manage the marine environment following the publication of the Marine Stewardship Report.

Elliot Morley: The Marine Stewardship Report announced a Review of Controls on Development in Marine and Coastal Waters. It also announced a Pilot project in the Irish Sea as the next step of the Review of Marine Nature Conservation. Both of these Reviews are examining whether new arrangements, including new legislation, are required to better manage and protect the marine environment. The Government will take a decision on whether new legislation is needed once it has seen the recommendations from these Reviews.

Single Farm Payment

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's policy is on the single farm payment.

Alun Michael: We hope to make an announcement on the model for allocating entitlements under the new single payment scheme in a matter of weeks.

Tuberculosis

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has commissioned into illegal culling activity in TB hot spot areas.

Ben Bradshaw: As part of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial, a proportion of setts within the survey only treatment areas are regularly checked for evidence of illegal activity, including badger digging and other signs of unauthorised culling or interference.
	There is currently no Defra commissioned research on illegal culling outside of the badger culling trial areas.

CABINET OFFICE

E-Government Services

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what new proposals he has to extend e-Government services.

Douglas Alexander: 66 per cent. of Government services are now available on-line. Departments continue to make progress towards our target for making all services available electronically by 2005, with key services achieving high levels of take-up.
	Later this year, we will pilot an enhanced customer offering for the delivery of electronic services designed around the needs of customers.

Leak Inquiries

Julian Lewis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what inquiries his Department has conducted into alleged leaks from members of staff since 1997; and on what occasions the names of those persons accused of leaking information from his Department have been made public (a) by the Government and (b) by way of another source.

Douglas Alexander: Since 1997, my Department has investigated 10 suspected leaks.
	In line with Exemptions 1(a) and 7(b) set out in Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, it has been the long-standing practice of successive governments not to comment on the outcome of such inquiries in order to safeguard security and investigative arrangements.

Small Business Regulation

Brian Cotter: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will estimate the total savings for small businesses that would accrue from those measures listed in the Regulatory Reform Action Plan, which have yet to be implemented.

Douglas Alexander: The updated Regulatory Reform Action Plan (RRAP), which was published in December 2003, contained over 650 deregulatory measures, many of which will benefit small businesses. Examples of these are highlighted throughout the RRAP. Individual Regulatory Impact Assessments will be produced by the relevant Departments identifying benefits and savings from these measures as appropriate.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much money has been allocated by his Department to Afghanistan in each of the last three years; and how much has been pledged for (a) 2004–05 and (b) 2005–06.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The table shows the allocations made to Afghanistan by the Department for International Development Afghanistan in each of the last three years and how much has been allocated for financial years 2004–05 and 2005–06.
	
		£ million
		
			  FY 01–02 FY 02–03 FY 03–04 FY 04–05 FY 05–06 
		
		
			 DFID Afghanistan Programme 46 75. 5 55 55 60  
			 Global Conflict Prevention Pool (joint DFID-FCO-MOD)  13 16.8 18 tba 
		
	
	We also provide about £40 million each year to Afghanistan through multilateral channels like the United Nations and EC.

Afghanistan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the financial assistance from his Department to Afghanistan in 2003–04 has been directed towards the long-term development of the country.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID has allocated £55 million so far to Afghanistan this year, in addition to contributions to the joint FCO-DFID-MOD Global Conflict Prevention Pool and various multilateral organisations. £37.5 million of this has been disbursed to date. All of this financial assistance contributes to the long-term development of Afghanistan, including the £8 million we have provided in humanitarian assistance to support returning refugees, health and education.

Street Children

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many street children he estimates there are in each country of Asia.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: It is difficult to provide accurate data on the overall numbers of street children in Asia or to provide a breakdown by country. Estimates are unreliable and coverage is patchy. According to UNICEF there are roughly about 25 million children estimated to be living on the streets in Asia. However there is no reliable information for many Asian countries. In India the Ministry of Social Welfare estimates that there are between 75,000 and 250,000 street children in Calcutta alone. UNICEF estimate there are 15,000 street children in Vietnam and 16,000 in Sri Lanka.
	The fundamental cause of children living on the street is poverty. This is exacerbated by chronic hunger, lack of school places and family conflict. Between 30 per cent. to 50 per cent. of children in South Asia are malnourished. Despite improvements in education provision around 41 per cent. of children drop out of school before they reach the fifth grade. Between 30 per cent. to 55 per cent. of school age children are working. Many of these children are exploited through child labour or are involved in the sex industry. Unless these problems are addressed the problems of street children in Asia will continue to grow.

Street Children

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much money has been provided by his Department in each of the last six years to tackle the problem of street children in Asia; what proportion of the money has been spent by whom; and with what results.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Urban poverty, homelessness, lack of education and the demand for child labour forces children to leave their families and live on the streets in Asia. It is important that these underlying problems are addressed as well as helping street children directly. Our bilateral programmes in Asia aim to alleviate family poverty more generally as a basis for addressing the needs of street children.
	Many of our programmes support NGO activities that advocate for the rights of children and work directly with street children. In Bangladesh we are supporting two NGOs to provide informal education to vulnerable working children in urban areas at a cost of £8 million. In Burma we have been supporting a street and working children project with World Vision at a total cost of £450,000. In India we are supporting a local NGO to work with child street vendors and have several other small projects in the pipeline focusing on vulnerable working children in urban areas.
	We are providing £1.6 million to Save the Children to work directly with vulnerable children in the Mekong sub region. This project aims to prevent poor rural children being trafficked to urban areas in the region for purposes of sexual exploitation and under age employment. This helps to reduce the potential for these children to end up on the street.
	Other DFID activities also contribute directly to addressing the problems of street children. Improving basic education for every child is the main contribution that Asian Governments can make to reducing child poverty and indirectly to reducing the numbers of street children. Support to basic education is a major focus of our bilateral programme in Asia and in 2001–02 DFID committed £130 million to support this.
	Another example is the £12 million urban poverty reduction project in Cochin in India that has helped to improve basic services for poor families and their children.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Provisional IRA

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the remaining amounts of weaponry and ammunition held by the Provisional IRA.

Jane Kennedy: This information requested is only available from intelligence sources and in line with Part 2 of The Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, it would be inappropriate for the Government to comment. The Government and the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning have consistently made clear that they will continue to pursue complete decommissioning by all paramilitary organisations to ensure that there is a permanent end to paramilitary activity in all its forms.

Crime Statistics (Coleraine)

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the total value of (a) house burglaries and (b) attacks on the person in the Coleraine borough in the last three years; and what additional resources have been made available to address this problem.

Jane Kennedy: The information is not fully available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The table sets out the number of domestic burglary and personal robbery offences within Coleraine District Council.
	
		
			  Domestic burglaries Personal robberies 
		
		
			 2000–01 228 27 
			 2001–02 405 28 
			 2002–03 304 30 
		
	
	Depending on its nature, an 'attack on the person' can be recorded separately as a 'violent crime' (a category which also includes all offences against the person, sexual offences) or as an 'offence against the person' (this also includes assaults, intimidation and harassment offences), but a statistical breakdown could be established only at disproportionate cost.
	It is not possible to establish the total value of property stolen or damaged, if any, as a result of these offences as there is no requirement for the police to keep a record of individuals' losses or the cost of repairs to properties.
	The police in Coleraine are tackling this type of crime through a number of means including intelligence-led policing and the provision of a full-time analyst dedicated to providing crime pattern analysis and the identification of crime hotspots. Additionally, a local crime team has been initiated and is being supported by a technical support group in respect of specific operations and a property-marking scheme is due to be piloted this year in a particular crime hotspot within the district council area.

Crime Statistics (Coleraine)

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) house searches, (b) arrests and (c) convictions have taken place involving members of Loyalists paramilitary groups in the Coleraine borough in each year since 2000.

Jane Kennedy: To supply the information specifically with regard to Loyalist groups would incur a disproportionate cost. However, the following table provides details of the number of house searches carried out in the Coleraine borough since 2000. Authorisations were issued to search dwelling houses for munitions, transmitters, scanning receivers and wireless apparatus.
	
		
			 Financial year Number of house searches 
		
		
			 2000–01 22 
			 2001–02 25 
			 2002–03 4 
			 2003–04 (to 30 September) 7

Helicopter Accident (Lough Foyle)

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the results were of the investigation into the accident involving a military helicopter in Lough Foyle, County Londonderry on 19 July 2002.

Ivor Caplin: I have been asked to reply.
	The Board of Inquiry into the accident is not yet complete. The investigation is expected to be completed later in the year and I will write to the hon. Member with the outcome and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Local Government Officers Superannuation Fund

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the current funding level of the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers' Superannuation Fund.

Angela Smith: The Northern Ireland Local Government Officers' Superannuation Committee is required, by regulation, to obtain an actuarial valuation of the assets and liabilities of its pension fund every three years. The next actuarial valuation exercise takes place on 31 March 2004. Each quarter the Committee and the fund's actuary monitor the position and the Department of the Environment is advised accordingly, on a regular basis.

Local Government Officers Superannuation Fund

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the estimated additional cost of a rise in the current employer contribution rate to 11.9 per cent. for the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers' Superannuation Fund would be to his Department's annual budget; and whether the spending plans for 2005–06 reflect such a possible increase.

Angela Smith: For all employing authorities contributing to the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers' Superannuation Fund, the estimated cost of an increase from the current employer contribution rate of 4.6 per cent. to 11.9 per cent. would incur further contribution income amounting to £32,605,830 in one year. There are currently 209 employing authorities, including district councils, education and library boards, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Housing Associations and certain schools and colleges, all of which would have to budget for any increase.
	The rate of 11.9 per cent. is, however, at this stage, an indication of the potential required increase and the position will be determined when the actuarial valuation of the fund, as at 31 March 2004, is obtained by the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers' Superannuation Committee. It is anticipated that a stepped approach to increasing contribution rates would be adopted, over the period 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2007. The position would also be reassessed at the 31 March 2007 valuation. Efforts would be made to keep annual increases in the contribution rate within the range of 2 per cent. to 4 per cent. of pensionable payroll. 2005–06 spending plans do not, as yet, take account of any potential increase.

Paramilitary Beatings

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many paramilitary beatings were reported in each of the last six years.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is outlined in the following table.
	
		Number of casualties as a result of paramilitary style assaults 
		
			  By Loyalist By Republican Total 
		
		
			  
			  
			 1998 89 55 144 
			 1999 90 44 134 
			 2000 78 54 132 
			 2001 93 53 146 
			 2002 89 50 139 
			 2003 102 46 148

Prison Service

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the (a) Director General and (b) Director of Operations of the Northern Ireland Prison Service have been provided with accommodation on the Stormont estate.

Jane Kennedy: Neither (a) the Director General nor (b) the Director of Operations of the Northern Ireland Prison Service has been provided with accommodation on the Stormont Estate.

Prison Service

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost to public funds has been of providing accommodation in the Stormont Estate for the Director General and Director of Operations of the Northern Ireland Prison Service.

Jane Kennedy: It is standard practice for office accommodation for all civil servants to be arranged by their individual agency/department.
	In the case of the Director General and Director of Operations of the Northern Ireland Prison Service, office accommodation in the Stormont Estate is provided through Northern Ireland Prison Service Headquarters at Dundonald House.

PRIME MINISTER

Government Buildings

Gregory Barker: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the rules regarding the use of party political advertising material in Government buildings;
	(2)  when the guidance on the use of Government buildings for party political purposes was last updated;
	(3)  what measures are taken by his officials to enforce the rules regulating the party political use of Government buildings; and how many times they have been breached since 1997.

Tony Blair: Section 6 of the Ministerial Code, which was last revised in June 2001, provides guidance on the use of Government property for party political purposes. Section 3 of the Civil Service Code, which was last revised in May 1999, is also relevant and it is for each Department to enforce the rules. No central records on this are held.

Honours Committee

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister whether the source of the leaked minutes of the Honours Committee has been found; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: In order to safeguard security and investigative arrangements, it has been the practice of successive governments not to comment on the conduct and outcome of leak inquiries.

Special Advisers

David Laws: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what the (a) number and (b) salary cost of special advisers was in each Department in each year from 1995–96 to 2002–03; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the total salary cost for special advisers is estimated to be for 2003–04; and how many special advisers there are in each pay band, broken down by Department.

Tony Blair: Since July 2002, I have published on an annual basis details of the number of special advisers by pay band and Department and their overall cost. Information for the financial years 2002–03 and 2003–04 is available in the Library of the House. The total salary cost for special advisers in 2003–04 will be published as soon as the information is available at the end of the financial year.
	For information for the period 1995–96 to 2000–01, I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Minister for the Cabinet Office gave to him on 31 January 2003, Official Report, columns 1056–57W.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Access to Justice

Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment the Department has made of the extent to which (a) the closure of county magistrates courts and (b) the pressure on the Courts Service's outlying civil and family estate affect the distance people are required to travel to have access to justice in each region.

Christopher Leslie: The extra time and distance people are required to travel is always carefully considered when magistrates courts are closed. Other factors taken into consideration are workload, the facilities available and the costs of renovations which would be required to bring a court up to standard. All of these are assessed when I consider any appeal on a magistrates court closure.
	The Court Service has been working with the Magistrates Courts Committees to look at the opportunities to share court accommodation to ease the pressure on the court estate and thereby improve access to justice.

Asylum

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Home Affairs on delivering an efficient asylum process.

David Lammy: In the last 12 months the Lord Chancellor and then the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor has had eight separate meetings which were scheduled to discuss asylum and 15 separate meetings which were scheduled to discuss reform of the criminal justice system with the Home Secretary. They will also have discussed these issues in the context of other meetings.
	The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor and I work closely with the Secretary of State for Home Affairs on asylum issues and meet regularly.

Asylum

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many asylum appeals were considered by (a) the Court of Appeal and (b) the House of Lords in each of the past two years; and how many such appeals succeeded.

David Lammy: During the two-year period between 1 December 2001 and 30 November 2003, the Court of Appeal Civil Division made decisions in 248 appeals which were classified as relating to Immigration and Asylum matters. Five of these appeals were brought by the Secretary of State.
	Of these, 64 were allowed by the court, two of which were brought by the Secretary Of State.
	These figures do not include applications for permission to appeal.
	We have no information on how many asylum appeals are considered by the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when he will reply to the letter to him dated 25 November 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Jahangir Shah.

Christopher Leslie: A reply to my right hon. Friend was signed by the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor and sent on Monday 12 January.

International Human Rights Instruments

Lembit �pik: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the Interdepartmental Review on International Human Rights Instruments was due to report to Ministers; when Ministers received this report; when the outcomes of this review will be made available; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The terms of reference for the review were that it should report in spring 2003. The very wide scope of the review, and the number of Departments involved, have caused the review to take longer than expected. We will announce its outcomes to Parliament as soon as is reasonably possible.

Legal Funding

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what discussions the Secretary of State has had with the Legal Services Commission on the funding of (a) human rights cases and (b) cases brought through legal aid against the closures of care homes for elderly people; and whether he was consulted by the Commission on the funding of such cases pursued by Hossacks Solicitors, of Kettering.

David Lammy: Regular discussions take place between my Department and the Legal Services Commission about funding policy, of which human rights issues form an important part, given that cases which allege human rights violations by public bodies are a priority for Community Legal Service funding.
	No discussions specifically concerning the funding of individual human rights cases, or publicly-funded cases against the closures of care homes for the elderly, have been held with Ministers. Nor have Ministers been consulted on the funding of such cases pursued by Hossacks Solicitors, as Ministers cannot intervene in individual funding applications.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Racial Hatred

Evan Harris: To ask the Solicitor-General what guidelines she has issued to the Crown Prosecution Service on the question of deciding what constitutes (a) prima facie evidence warranting and (b) a public interest supporting consideration of a prosecution for inciting racial hatred.

Harriet Harman: The Code for Crown Prosecutors requires, as the hon. Member's question reflects, that in every case the prosecutor considers: (a) whether there is enough evidence to make it more likely than not that there will be a conviction and; (b) that the public interest supports a prosecution. There is a presumption under the code that it is in the public interest to prosecute racially aggravated offences in any case where there is a racial motivation against the victim.

Racial Hatred

Norman Baker: To ask the Solicitor-General what criteria are applied to decisions on whether prosecutions for alleged racial hatred are in the public interest.

Harriet Harman: The Crown Prosecution Service reviews all allegations of inciting racial hatred in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
	All cases are considered individually on their own merits, but must meet both tests set out in the Code namely the evidential and public interest tests. When considering the public interest of such prosecutions, the Code for Crown Prosecutors specifically states that
	a prosecution is likely to be needed if the offence was motivated by any form of discrimination against the victim's ethnic or national origin.
	All such cases are dealt with by Casework Directorate at CPS Headquarters where a team of specialist prosecutors reviews them. The consent of the Attorney-General must be obtained before any such prosecution can take place.

Crown Prosecution Service

Graham Allen: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will make a statement on the work of the Crown Prosecution Service with the Nottingham Criminal Justice Board in connecting the criminal justice system with local people.

Harriet Harman: Ms Kate Carty, the Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Nottinghamshire, is an active member of the Local Criminal Justice Board, she chairs two important sub-groups: one on improving the service to vulnerable and intimidated victims and witnesses; the other on improving communications between the criminal justice agencies and the community. She also leads an initiative to ensure, through schools, that young people in Nottinghamshire are aware of the work and structure of their Local Criminal Justice Board.

Crown Prosecution Service

Joan Humble: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will make a statement on the role of the specialist prosecutors of street crime at the Crown Prosecution Service.

Harriet Harman: In the 10 Street Crime Areas there are specialist prosecutors for prosecuting street crime cases (the premium service) in order to prosecute with the charge right first time and to help to secure the best evidence, reduce delays and focus resources.
	The premium service has worked well in Lancashire and we have seen sustained improved performance, with significant decreases in the level of early terminations of cases.

Youth Justice

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will make a statement on her responsibilities in relation to (a) anti-social behaviour by youths and (b) youth justice matters.

Harriet Harman: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is working with local authorities and other criminal justice agencies to ensure a strategic and effective response to anti-social behaviour by youths.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Correspondence

Chris Grayling: To ask the Minister for Women when she will reply to the letter sent to her Department on 21 July by the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell on behalf of Mavish Kentish of Laburnum Road, Epsom.

Jacqui Smith: In consultation with DWP and HMT officials it has been decided that Inheritance Tax falls within the responsibilities of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
	Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in transferring your letter. I have asked that a response be sent to you as a matter of urgency.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Child Support Agency

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many absent parents have subsequently been assessed for a change in circumstances by the Child Support Agency after failing to respond to a request for details of change of circumstances by post;
	(2)  what procedure is followed by the Child Support Agency to determine the accuracy of address information on absent parents when they receive no response to postal requests for information on change of circumstances;
	(3)  what recent discussions he has had with the Child Support Agency on procedures for contacting absent parents to ascertain changes in circumstances;
	(4)  how many requests to absent parents by the Child Support Agency for details of change of circumstances were sent by post in 2003; and how many were returned undelivered by the post office.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Michael Weir
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary questions about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the following questions:
	how many absent parents have subsequently been assessed for a change in circumstances by the Child Support Agency after failing to respond to a request for details of change of circumstances by post;
	what procedure is followed by the Child Support Agency to determine the accuracy of address information on absent parents when they receive no response to postal requests for information on change of circumstances;
	what recent discussions he has had with the Child Support Agency on procedures for contacting absent parents to ascertain changes in circumstances;
	how many requests to absent parents by the Child Support Agency for details of change of circumstances were sent by post in 2003; and how many were returned undelivered by the post office.
	The Agency does not collect information about volumes of post issued or returned undelivered. If we have not received a response to postal requests for information and all other avenues for obtaining it have been exhausted, the case is referred to the Agency Inspectors for a visit to obtain this information. The Secretary of State and the Chief Executive of the Agency meet regularly to discuss all aspects of Agency business.
	I hope this is helpful.

Child Support Agency

James Plaskitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many Child Support Agency cases are now operating on the new formula for calculation of maintenance payments;
	(2)  how many Child Support Agency cases continue to operate on the original formula for calculation of maintenance payments.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. James Plaskitt
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary questions about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the following questions:
	how many CSA cases are now operating on the new formula for calculation of maintenance payments, and
	how many CSA cases continue to operate on the original formula for calculation of maintenance payments.
	Regular reports on the progress of child support reform are made to the House. The most recent of these covered the period to 30 September. As of September there were 30,528 cases operating on the new formula and 882,800 cases operating on the original formula.
	I hope this is helpful.

Child Support Agency

James Plaskitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  when he will begin the process of migrating existing cases to the new formula for calculation of maintenance payments;
	(2)  what criteria he will apply to the prioritisation of cases for migration to the new formula for calculation of maintenance payments;
	(3)  how long he expects the process of migration of cases to the new formula for calculation of maintenance payments to take.

Chris Pond: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) on 18 December 2003, Official Report, column 1092W.
	Plans for transferring the old scheme caseload to the new scheme have yet to be finalised.

Departmental Pay

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost is of the departmental pay bill increase for 200304.

Maria Eagle: Negotiations for the 200304 pay award are still ongoing. Subject to acceptance of the current pay offer, the in-year 200304 pay bill for the department will increase by around 120 million. This represents a percentage increase of 3.7 per cent.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letter to him dated 6 October 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. V. Ilyas.

Chris Mullin: I apologise to my right hon. Friend for not having replied to his letter of 6 October 2003 to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary.
	The Foreign Secretary will write to him shortly.

Eritrea

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

Chris Mullin: Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea are tense. We are urging both parties to take forward the Algiers Agreement which ended the war, implement the final and binding Boundary Commission decision, and to engage in dialogue on all of the issues separating the two countries. I am visiting Eritrea and Ethiopia from 1319 January 2004, and will press these points.

Gambia

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on (a) the arrest of Gambia's Information Minister, Yankuba Touray, by President Jammeh's forces and (b) the series of arrests of senior governmental officials, civil servants and businessmen in the last seven weeks.

Chris Mullin: The Gambia's Secretary of State for Information, Communication and Technology, Mr. Yankuba Touray, was relieved of his official duties on 16 December 2003. He was not arrested.
	A number of other Government officials and businessmen have been arrested in recent weeks, largely in connection with alleged misappropriation or currency irregularities. Those concerned have been arrested, detained, charged or released in accordance with local law. The majority leader of the National Assembly has, separately, been held in custody since 26 December 2003 on matters relating to national security.
	We are following these developments closely. We welcome the Gambian Government's determination to tackle corruption. We are encouraging them to continue to ensure full respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of the Sudan about the recent disturbances at Khartoum University.

Chris Mullin: We discuss human rights issues on a regular basis with the Government of Sudan, both bilaterally and as part of the EU-Sudan dialogue. As we understand it, the recent disturbances at Khartoum University did not directly result in any arrests or detentions, and we therefore see no reason to raise the matter but we will keep the situation under review.

Zimbabwe

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the security situation in Zimbabwe in respect of British citizens travelling to Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mullin: We keep the security situation in Zimbabwe under constant review. Our travel advice available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at: www.fco.gov.uk spells out the current situation and is regularly updated to reflect any developments which might affect the safety of British citizens travelling to Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the England and Wales Cricket Board about the England cricket team's proposed tour of Zimbabwe in respect of players' and supporters' safety.

Chris Mullin: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the England and Wales Cricket Board officials are in close contact. The FCO's advice to visitors to Zimbabwe regarding safety and security is on our website at: www.fco.gov.uk This advice is kept under constant review. The decision whether to tour Zimbabwe this year rests with the ECB.

Zimbabwe

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the situation in Zimbabwe.

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the situation in Zimbabwe.

Chris Mullin: The situation in Zimbabwe continues to deteriorate. 5.5 million people need food aid. The economy continues to collapse; inflation is at 620 per cent. Political violence continues. The Government of Zimbabwe continue to restrict press freedoms. We have made clear our condemnation of the present situation. We will continue to help feed Zimbabwe's starving people and promote a return to democratic governance and the rule of law.

Zimbabwe

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the United Kingdom's ambassador in Harare about the situation in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mullin: I receive regular reports on Zimbabwe from our ambassador in Harare. The situation remains grim. We will continue to do all we can to prevent Zimbabweans starving and to secure a return to democratic governance.

Zimbabwe

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next intends to meet the Zimbabwean ambassador to discuss political reform in Zimbabwe.

Chris Mullin: I have no plans to meet the Zimbabwean ambassador. We maintain diplomatic relations with Zimbabwe and Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have occasional contact with his staff. The Government of Zimbabwe are fully aware of our views on the need for a return to democratic governance and the rule of law in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Chairman of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Committee on Zimbabwe about encouraging democratic reform in the country.

Chris Mullin: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister met with the Prime Minister of Jamaica. Chair of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Committee on Zimbabwe, at CHOGM in December 2003. Commonwealth leaders agreed that Zimbabwe's suspension from the Councils of the Commonwealth should be maintained, and asked President Obansanjo of Nigeria, and the Commonwealth Secretary General, to encourage and facilitate progress and the return of Zimbabwe to the Commonwealth.

Zimbabwe

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on the conditions for the re-admission of Zimbabwe to the Commonwealth; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mullin: The Zimbabwe Government withdrew Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth. Her re-admission would require a decision by consensus of the current members. We expect all members of the Commonwealth to adhere to the Harare principles of democratic government, the rule of law and respect for human rights.

Zimbabwe

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received on Mr. Robert Mugabe's continuing tenure of an honorary knighthood; and if he will take steps to strip him of the knighthood.

Chris Mullin: Mugabe's knighthood was conferred in 1994 under the previous Government. Its removal is not our immediate priority, although we are keeping the matter under review. Our present priorities for Zimbabwe are feeding the hungry and working with our international partners to bring about the restoration of good governance and the rule of law.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Broadband

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action the Department is taking to ensure that broadband is made available more widely to the rural community.

Stephen Timms: In England, the Broadband Aggregation Project will make sure that the 1 billion Government spend on broadband connectivity for the public sector between 2003 and 2006 will offer the best value for money and widen availability to surrounding communities.
	DTI is working with the Devolved Administrations and Regional Development Agencies to extend the availability of broadband still further. We have given them 30 million for pilot schemes to extend the availability of broadband in areas not currently served by the market.
	A joint DTI/Defra Rural Broadband Team has been set up specifically to address the issue of availability of broadband in rural areas. It is working to support local community action to secure affordable access to broadband, to ensure rural communities derive the maximum benefit from the deployment of broadband and promote rural access and take up of broadband. Promoting partnerships between the telecommunications industry, government agencies and community organizations, our aim is that every community in the country should have access to broadband by the end of next year.

Correspondence

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Totnes dated 19 November 2003 enclosing one from Mr. Christopher Martin-Gathern of Buckfastleigh about identity fraud.

Patricia Hewitt: My office has no record of receiving the letter from the hon. Member. However, I should point out that identity fraud is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary.

Miners' Compensation

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether compensation payments to be made for eligible estate claims for former miners for (a) chronic bronchitis and emphysema and (b) vibration white finger are being processed.

Nigel Griffiths: With regard to respiratory disease, the Department's priority is to settle claims from the eldest and sickest living miners and their widows. Estate claims are a lower priority and are being processed in accordance with the prioritisation process, agreed with the claimants' solicitors. They are processed when there are no higher priority claims to assess.
	On vibration white finger (VWF) claims, where IRISC have received the necessary medical report and confirmation of the claimant's employment history, families of deceased miners are having their claims processed along with those from living miners.

Miners' Compensation

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  when she expects the last compensation payments to be made for eligible estate claims for former miners for (a) chronic bronchitis and emphysema and (b) vibration white finger;
	(2)  when she expects the last compensation payments to be made to (a) former miners and (b) widows of former miners for (i) chronic bronchitis and emphysema and (ii) vibration white finger.

Nigel Griffiths: It is very difficult to give such estimates for either scheme.
	The Vibration White Finger (VWF) scheme has closed but claims can only be processed when all relevant documentation has been received from claimants. Estates claims are being processed alongside live claims where supporting documentation is available, we expect that the greater part of general damages claims will be made offers by the end of 2005. Compensation for services will extend beyond that.
	The respiratory disease scheme is still open until 31 March 2004 and claims are currently coming in around 8,000 a week, of which around 5,000 are deceased claims (both widows and estates claims). The speed of processing claims will depend, among other things, on how quickly documentation is received from claimants after initial registration. Claims are processed in priority order, as agreed with miners' solicitors and estate claims come behind live individual claims.

Miners' Compensation

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the number of claims for (a) vibration white finger and (b) respiratory disease for (i) former miners, (ii) widows of former miners and (iii) other eligible estate claims for former miners in (A) the UK, (B) England, (C) Scotland and (D) Wales.

Nigel Griffiths: The Vibration White Finger (VWF) scheme is now closed.
	The figures for VWF are:
	
		
			  Live claims received (scheme closed 31 October 2002)) Widows/estate claims received (scheme closed 31 January 2003) 
		
		
			 UK 150,183 19,361 
			 England 122,236 14,899 
			 Scotland 9,625 1,857 
			 Wales 18,322 2,605 
		
	
	The respiratory disease scheme closes at the end of March 2004. It is difficult to make estimates of final numbers as claims are currently coming in at around 8,000 per week. Some 5,000 of which are deceased claims.
	As of 21 December 2003 the figures for respiratory disease are:
	
		
			  Live claims as of 21 December 2003 Widows/estate claims as of 21 December 2003 
		
		
			 UK 179,775 200,033 
			 England 139,008 119,248 
			 Scotland 13,679 15,351 
			 Wales 27,088 38,781 
		
	
	Figures are not separately available for estate claims received. The Department's claim handlers, IRISC, register claims from both widows and estates as deceased.

Miners' Compensation

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many chronic obstructive pulmonary disease compensation claims have been registered, broken down by coalfield area; how many live claimants there are; and how many (a) widows and (b) estates are claiming.

Nigel Griffiths: As of 21 December 2003 the figures are:
	
		
			 COPD England Scotland Wales 
		
		
			 Live claims 139,008 12,489 26,699 
			 Deceased claims (widow/estate) 145,911 14,556 38,156 
		
	
	Regional statistics by coalfield area can be found on the Department's websitewww.dti.gov.uk/coalhealth. The registration figures for deceased cases are not split between widows and estates.

Nuclear Energy

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the Operation of Euratom Safeguards in 2002, Com (2003) 764 Final, in respect of its application to United Kingdom nuclear facilities and materials.

Nigel Griffiths: An explanatory memorandum (16077/03) covering the Commission report on the operation of Euratom Safeguards during 2002 has been submitted to Parliament. In the report the Commission notes that its overall conclusion from activities during 2002 was that no evidence was found to suggest that nuclear materials were diverted from their intended uses. Nor was any evidence found to suggest non-compliance with provisions relating to particular safeguards provisions assumed by the Community under agreements concluded with third states. The report includes comments on a number of UK installations; these comments are generally positive. Discrepancies that arose at some UK reactors (Bradwell, Sizewell A and Wylfa) were followed-up and, after consultation with the operator involved, satisfactorily resolved. The Commission acknowledges that the operator had taken steps to correct the discrepancy and prevent its recurrence.

Oil-fired Appliances

Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will put in place a system of compulsory registration for installers and maintainers of oil-fired domestic central heating similar to the CORGI scheme for installers and maintainers of domestic gas appliances.

Stephen Timms: I have no plans to do so.

Post Office Closures

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will urge the Post Office to re-examine the case of the closure of (a) Stock Road sub-post office, Billericay, Essex and (b) Barn Hall Post Office, Wickford, Essex, following the representations of the hon. Member for Billericay to the Post Office and Postwatch.

Stephen Timms: Following public consultation, final decisions on post office closure proposals under the urban reinvention programme are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd., in the light of advice from Postwatch and other consultation responses.

Regional Selective Assistance

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the grants to investment projects made under regional selective assistance in 200304, stating for each (a) the amount of the award, (b) the region, (c) the type of project and (d) the justification for the award; and what amounts were allocated in each year since 1997.

Jacqui Smith: For reasons of commercial confidentiality details of individual grants offered are generally only published once the first payment of grant has been made. Publication is limited to offers of 75,000 or more and details can be found in the January, April, July and October editions of Labour Market Tends.
	Aggregate numbers of regions and sectors are published in the Industrial Development Act Annual Report, which is laid in Parliament about three months after the end of the reporting period.

Technology Transfer Agreements

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on technology transfer agreements.

Patricia Hewitt: My Department promotes the transfer of technology between many organisations in the UK and between British and overseas organisations. Our aim is to improve the productivity and competitiveness of British businesses along the lines we have set out in the recent Innovation Report Competing in the global economy: the innovation challenge.
	Although my Department assists the process of technology transfer through business support products such as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, the vast majority of technology transfer agreements are arranged privately. I welcome the considerable expansion of technology and knowledge transfer in the UK that has occurred in recent years, largely as a result of innovative programmes such as the Higher Education Innovation Fund, that have seeded the idea of spin-out firms or other exploitation of science and technology in the minds of our researchers and technologists in academia and business.

HEALTH

Audiology

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what improvements he expects choice in the NHS will have for deaf people (a) in arranging an appointment and (b) in communicating with their doctor.

Stephen Ladyman: Building on the Best: Choice, Responsiveness and Equity in the NHS draws out the main themes that emerged from our recent consultation on what changes would do most to improve the experience of health care for patients, users and carers. Building on the Best confirms that the commitment in the NHS Plan for a national interpreting and translation service has been initiated by NHS Direct. The interpretation component will include a requirement to provide services for people who use British Sign Language. Over time, this contract will be available to help deaf people arrange appointments and communicate with their doctors.

Audiology

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what information his Department collects in respect of waiting times for audiology services;
	(2)  which NHS trusts have entered into partnership agreements with private hearing aid dispensers for (a) 200304 and (b) 200405.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department does not collect centrally information about waiting times for non-consultant led specialities such as audiology, nor about contracts entered into by local services.
	The national framework agreement awarded to David Ormerod Hearing Centres and Ultravox Holdings plc in October 2003 will provide a service to patients on the same basis as the national health service, which remains responsible for the patients' care. It has so far involved sites in Shrewsbury, Leeds, Bradford, Bath, Bournemouth and East Cheshire. This partnership agreement is now being rolled out nationally.

Cannabis Use (Schizophrenia)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned into cannabis use and schizophrenia.

Melanie Johnson: Department of Health-funded research completed last year recognised that, while a causative link between early cannabis use and later development of schizophrenia and depression is not conclusively proven, recent epidemiological research has shown a stronger association than was previously evident. Although we have not commissioned further specific research into cannabis and schizophrenia, the Department monitors research is this area and has a range of expert advisers to inform policy.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to improve the understanding among health professionals of the symptoms and effects of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Melanie Johnson: On 22 February 2002, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Professor Sir Liam Donaldson and the Chief Nursing Officer, Sarah Mullally, published an updated letter, Carbon Monoxide: the forgotten Killer. The letter pulled together the most current information available on carbon monoxide and was forwarded to community nurses, midwives, health visitors and general practitioners, professionals who are most likely to be aware of patients' living conditions and so identify those at increased risk. This letter was originally published on 7 September 1998.
	Similarly, the quarterly CMO Update has included several reminders to GPs on the importance of diagnosis of carbon monoxide poisoning since 1998. Officials also issued a video in March 2002, prepared for the Health and Safety Executive, to all GP surgeries. The video highlights the main symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, as well as advising GPs on how to diagnose possible cases of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Care Homes

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it is appropriate for an independent review panel to take into account, in making their decisions on health care funding for people living in care homes, (a) the job status of the carers and (b) the classification of the home in which the care is received.

Stephen Ladyman: Eligibility for fully funded national health service continuing care is decided upon the patient's needs. When considering eligibility for fully funded NHS continuing care, and during any reviews of such decisions, the job status of any carers should make no difference to the decision. The care the patient receives and the setting in which it is provided should be based entirely on the patient's needs.

Care Homes

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will review the eligibility criteria of Essex Strategic Health Authority for health care funding for people living in residential care homes.

Stephen Ladyman: Establishing and reviewing eligibility criteria for national health service fully funded continuing care is a responsibility of the strategic health authority, which will have taken legal advice when establishing the criteria.

Chemical Regulation

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the forthcoming EU Chemical Regulation; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The Department has been consulted on the Government Position Statement on the new European Union chemicals strategy that was published in December 2002 and on the Government's response to the European Commission's internet consultation on the workability of its draft proposal in June last year.
	Officials from the Department continue to be involved in the cross-Government steering committee that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has established on this issue.

Colloidal Silver

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of colloidal silver as a treatment for MRSA and other hospital-acquired infections.

Melanie Johnson: We are not aware of any peer-reviewed or clinical trial evidence that colloidal silver is an effective treatment for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or other hospital-acquired infections. Colloidal silver has antibacterial properties, but it is not used as an alternative to antibiotics because of its toxicity when taken internally.

Delayed Discharges

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets were set for delayed discharge of patients aged 75 years and over for each quarter in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: Performance targets for the delayed discharge of patients aged 75 years and over occupying an acute bed have been set on an annual basis, rather than a quarterly target, since 200001. Each of these targets was set out in the relevant year's Planning and Priorities Framework, published by the Department of Health.
	These targets are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 200001 11 
			 200102 10 
			 200203 9 
		
	
	There was no numerical target set for 200304; the NHS Plan target is to end widespread bed blocking.

Delayed Discharges

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many delayed discharges of patients aged 75 years and over there were in each quarter in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the table and is also available in the Library.
	
		Numbers of adult patients over 75 in acute beds with delayed dischargequarterly figures 19972003
		
			 Quarter Number of patients  
		
		
			 September 2003 2,988 
			 June 2003 3,100 
			 March 2003 3,031 
			 December 2002 3,502 
			 September 2002 4,147 
			 June 2002 (1) 
			 March 2002 4,691 
			 December 2001 5,117 
			 September 2001 5,673 
			 June 2001 5,396 
			 March 2001 5,938 
			 December 2000 5,801 
			 September 2000 5,958 
			 June 2000 5,538 
			 March 2000 5,431 
			 December 1999 5,419 
			 September 1999 5,552 
			 June 1999 5,276 
			 March 1999 5,891 
			 December 1998 5,772 
			 September 1998 6,219 
			 June 1998 6,180 
			 March 1998 6,265 
			 December 1997 6,451 
			 September 1997 6,854 
		
	
	(1) No date
	Note:
	Reliable data was not available for over 75s for this quarter, because of structural changes resulting from Shifting the Balance of Power. The figure for all adults was 4,924.

Departmental Relocation

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of relocation of staff to North Staffordshire; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of proposals to relocate Government jobs on the Department's ability to meet (a) departmental policy objectives and (b) departmental public service agreements;
	(3)  what assessment his Department has made of the effect of possible relocation of staff in his Department to North Staffordshire on (a) job creation, (b) sustainable development, (c) the local economy and (d) tackling regional economic disparities; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what plans he has to establish procedures for assessing the impact of possible relocation of staff in the Department to his regions; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 516W.

Diabetes

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 8 December 2003, Official Report, column 310W, on diabetes, what bodies were specifically advised of the 2002 Diabetes Consultation Exercise; what the duration was of the exercise; how it was researched; how many responses the Department received; what its terms of reference were; how the replies were evaluated; and what steps were taken to publish the findings.

Rosie Winterton: A general public consultation on the broad future research agenda for diabetes was undertaken to support the joint Department of Health and Medical Research Council review of current and future research in diabetes. The remit of the research advisory committee that conducted the review was to consider all research on diabetes in the United Kingdom in the international context, with a view to identifying opportunities for new research, options for strengthening research, and areas where research could support clinical practice, public health and the national service framework for diabetes.
	Consultation was conducted mainly electronically and continued for three months. A total of 108 submissions were received and evaluated. The review was published in October 2002. A copy is available in the Library. Full details of the process of consultation and the results are set out in Annex 4 of the Review.

Diabetes

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what basis the Department decided during the joint Department of Health and Medical Research Council's review in 2002 of current and future research on diabetes not to make a comparison of clinical outcomes, mortality and complications between the use of animal insulin and human insulin.

Rosie Winterton: The Department of Health and the Medical Research Council's review of current and future research on diabetes identified the principal opportunities for research across the whole field from molecular biology to health services research, including clinical research. The complications of diabetes which give rise to morbidity and to premature mortality were the subject of particular consideration by the members of the advisory committee and of a specific sub-group. A major determinant of the development of these complications in Type 1 diabetes is the control of the blood glucose by self-injection of insulin. The review identified research into the most effective use of existing and new insulin's, better insulin delivery systems, and training in self-management as fundamental to good control in these patients. Much research is being done in these areas. The Committee members did not consider, nor was it suggested to them, that the minor differences in the effects on humans of insulin from different species might contribute to differential rates of development of the complications of diabetes.

Disease Screening

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that all (a) economic migrants, (b) asylum seekers and (c) those with work permits receive a health screen for (i) hepatitis B, (ii) hepatitis C, (iii) tuberculosis and (iv) HIV/AIDS before they are admitted to the United Kingdom; and what the current policy is.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 15 December 2003
	The Cabinet Office is currently co-ordinating work between relevant Government Departments, including the Department of Health, to review imported infections and immigration. The review aims to establish the facts about the impact of immigration on public health and national health service expenditure, consider all relevant issues including health screening and propose solutions should action be required. It is on-going and no decisions have been taken yet.
	Asylum seekers are offered health assessments and screening for tuberculosis (TB) at the Home Office induction centre in East Kent (and will be offered them at other induction centres as they are rolled out). Testing for HIV is offered as part of the health assessment on request or where medical history indicates they have been at risk. The aims of the health assessment are to identify the immediate healthcare needs of the asylum seeker and to protect public health. Imposing mandatory health screening on asylum seekers would breach their human rights and would be contrary to the 1951 Refugee Convention.
	In relation to other migrants, long-standing policy is that any person subject to immigration control who either mentions health or medical treatment as a reason for coming to the United Kingdom, or appears unwell; or is seeking leave to enter the UK for six months or more and is at high risk of having been exposed to TB should be referred by the immigration officer to a medical inspector. These arrangements are governed by Schedule 2 of the Immigration Act 1971 and the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules (HC 395).

Drugs Treatment

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the variance in criminal offending between patients using the Mapperley Hospital Formula of prescribing and National Treatment Agency for Substance Abuse-recommended methadone dosages and use.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 13 January 2004
	Departmental officials are aware of the Mapperley Hospital Formula and can confirm that this is fully in line with Department of Health and National Treatment Agency guidance. Drug treatment is one of a number of factors shown to impact on criminal offending. In reflecting current guidance, we would expect the Mapperley Hospital Formula to make a comparable contribution in other areas of the country.

Drugs Treatment

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the Mapperley Hospital Formula for prescribing for drug addiction.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 13 January 2004
	The Mapperley Hospital Formula uses an option that drug specialists have shown to be effective over many years and is fully in line with Department of Health and National Treatment Agency guidance.

Emergency Readmissions

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets were set for 28-day emergency re-admissions of people aged 75 and over in each quarter since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: The target for emergency re-admissions within 28 days of discharge has always been to retain zero growth in the rate, year on year. Up to 200102, the target related to emergency re-admissions for those aged over 75 only. Since then, the target has related to patients of all ages.

Ethnicity

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of a person's ethnicity on their access to public services within the responsibilities of his Department.

Melanie Johnson: The Department is committed to transforming the health and social care system so that it produces faster, fairer services with equity of access for all.
	The most extensive survey on the health of minority ethnic groups ever carried out in England was published in February 2001. The 1999 Health Survey for England identified significant health inequalities among people from black and minority ethnic communities and found higher rates of general practitioner consultations for minority ethnic groups.
	The Department recognises that, as the frequent gateway to other national health service services, access to general practice services for all populations is of primary importance. The 2002 NHS Patient's Survey, based on a sample obtained from the electoral register and with 145,000 responses, found that at least 99 per cent. of people from each ethnic group were registered with a GP.
	Since 2003, these surveys have been carried out by individual NHS organisations but are collated and analysed at the national level by the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI).
	Equality of access is also central to the Department's policy on social services and the Personal Social Services Performance Assessment Framework indicators provide statistical overview of social services performance in key areas including fair access.
	The Department has made a commitment to the collection of ethnic origin information using the 2001 Census categories and has guidance in place to ensure that consideration of the collection of relevant race equality information is part of the process of establishing all new central data sets.
	The creation of more equal access for black and minority ethnic people is an integral and vital aspect of the Department's programme of investment and reform. Building on the Best, Choice Responsiveness and Equity in the NHS, December 2003, aims to promote equality of access to health care for all and sets the challenge of providing high quality, accessible services that meet the individual needs of an increasingly diverse population while also being underpinned by the values of fairness and equity. Copies are available in the Library.

Euro

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in how many speeches during 2003 he declared support for the Government's policy on the euro.

Rosie Winterton: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, on 12 January 2004, Official Report, columns 51617W.

Health Promotion England

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the (a) budget allocation and (b) actual spending of Health Promotion England for each year since 2000.

Melanie Johnson: The budget allocation and actual spend for Health Promotion England for each year since 2000 is shown in the table.
	
		 million
		
			  Budget Actual spend 
		
		
			 200001 5.683 5.232 
			 200102 6.265 6.061

Health Services (Lancashire)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much earmarked funding has been provided to (a) Lancashire county council and (b) district councils in Lancashire for (i) older people's services and (ii) adults with learning disabilities in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Melanie Johnson: The Department does not provide earmarked funds to county councils for services for older people or for adults with learning disabilities. Lancashire county council decides how much to make available for these services from the overall amount provided for adult services by the Department. Lancashire county council will receive a 14 million, or 7.4 per cent., increase for adult personal social services in 200405.

Hospital-acquired Infections

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the extra bed days caused by extended stays in UK hospitals due to hospital acquired infections in each of the last six years, broken down by hospital trust.

Melanie Johnson: These data are not available, but a 199495 study 1 suggested that patients who acquire an infection in hospital remain in hospital on average an extra 11 days.
	1 The Socio-economic Burden of Hospital Acquired InfectionPublic Health Laboratory Service, 1999, also available at: www.doh.gov.uk/haicosts.htm

Influenza Vaccine

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the take-up rates for influenza vaccine were as at 1 December 2003 (a) in England and (b) broken down by (i) primary care trust and (ii) strategic health authority.

Melanie Johnson: The overall uptake of flu vaccine in England in those aged 65 and over as at 1 December 2003 was 67.9 per cent.. A breakdown by strategic health authority and primary care trust has been placed in the Library.

Landfill Sites

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies have been carried out into the incidence of birth defects within the proximity of landfill sites.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 12 January 2004
	I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave him on 14 January 2004, Official Report, column 798W.

Mental Health Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on adult mental health services in each year since 199798; what the projected expenditure is in financial year 200304; if he will provide the figures in (a) cash terms and (b) Retail Price Index-adjusted terms using 199798 as a baseline; and if he will make a statement on the method used for compiling the figures.

Rosie Winterton: The table sets out the mental health services expenditure on patients aged 16 or over since 199798.
	
		 million
		
			  Expenditure RPI-adjusted expenditure 
		
		
			 199798 2,849 2,849 
			 199899 3,011 2,894 
			 19992000 3,188 3,016 
			 200001 3,729 3,427 
			 200102 4,006 3,617 
		
	
	It is not possible to estimate the expenditure for mental health services for 200203 and 200304 until the national health service accounts for these years are finalised, at the end of January 2004 and 2005 respectively.
	The figures are taken from the Expenditure Per Head of Population (EPHoP) analysis of healthcare spend. EPHoP measures activity from in-patients, out-patients and community based patients against expenditure taken from the hospital and community health service programme budget. The programme budget is compiled using NHS accountsa combination of finance returns from strategic health authorities, NHS trusts, primary care trusts and the strategic health authority summarisation schedules.
	Activity data from a range of sources, for example hospital episode statistics, Krner community returns, the Living in Britain survey, etc. are used to distribute the expenditure figures for each sectormental health, acute services, etc. proportionally across the whole population.
	Using the combination of expenditure and activity figures, the treatment cost is for each person within each age group and for each type of activity is calculated.

Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were waiting for in-patient treatment in the Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust area at the latest date for which figures are available; and how many people have been waiting over 12 months for in-patient treatment.

Stephen Ladyman: As of 31 October 2003, 8,040 patients were waiting for elective in-patient admission, and no patients were waiting over 12 months. The source of this data is the Department of Health monthly monitoring.

Patients Forums

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 5 January 2004, Official Report, columns 20304W, on patients forums, how many applications were made for membership of each patients forum; and how many members each has.

Rosie Winterton: Information on applications received for each patients forum is not available because some applicants expressed multiple preferences or no preference for a particular forum. The total number of applicants at 9 January, the latest figures, was 5,776. At the same date, 549 of the 572 forums had seven or more volunteers.

Prostate Cancer

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures his Department is taking with (a) the NHS and (b) voluntary organisations to tackle prostate cancer.

Melanie Johnson: In September 2000, the Government published the national health service prostate cancer programme, which set out what was known about prostate cancer and established a framework for future action. Good progress has been made on prostate cancer since the programme was published.
	Over 98 per cent. of patients with suspected urological cancers, including prostate, were seen for their first outpatient appointment within two weeks of their general practitioner referral between July and September 2003.
	There has been a 38 per cent. increase in the number of consultant urologists since 1997; from 343 to 473.
	We have increased funding for research into prostate cancer twenty-fold since 19992000, which means in 200304, the Department is directly funding 4.2 million of research into prostate cancer.
	We have provided Section 64 funding to the Prostate Cancer Charity to increase public awareness of prostate cancer, and funded the Database of Individual Patient Experiences in prostate cancer.
	In the summer of 2001, we launched the prostate cancer risk management programme. This programme was established to ensure that men who are considering a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test for prostate cancer are given information concerning the benefits, limitations and risks associated with receiving a test. As part of this programme, an evidence based pack of materials has been sent to all general practitioners in England to help them counsel men in making an informed choice about the PSA test.
	Much has been achieved on prostate cancer but we recognise that there is still much to be done. That is why we welcomed the launch of the Prostate Cancer Charter for Action on 29 January 2003 and set up the Prostate Cancer Advisory Group (PCAG) to ensure better collaboration and communication between the charter members and Government. PCAG is already working hard and is taking forward work on information for prostate cancer patients, public awareness, prostate cancer treatment and a national prostate cancer resource website.

Residential Care

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has commissioned on the need for more residential care places for people below pensionable age.

Stephen Ladyman: It is up to local councils to determine the range of care options, including residential care places for people below pensionable age, that are needed locally. This information should then inform their commissioning strategies and decisions.
	The vast majority of people prefer to receive care at home rather than enter residential care.

Residential Care

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential care homes cater for people only below pensionable age; and how many places this represents in total.

Stephen Ladyman: The number of residential care homes catering primarily for 18 to 64-year-olds in 2001 was 11,400 and the number of places was 81,100. This represents 24 per cent. of all places in residential care homes.
	Figures for later years have been collected by the National Care Standards Commission, but comparable details are not available.

Security Passes

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff in departmental agencies in the last 12 months.

Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave to the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Mr. Burstow) on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 622W.

Staff Costs

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list salaries and wages costs for (a) general and senior managers, (b) nurses and midwives and (c) administrative and clerical staff for (i) 200203 and (ii) 200304, broken down by NHS trust.

John Hutton: Provisional information for 200203, which remains subject to standard checks, has been placed in the Library.
	Information for 200304 will not be available until after the financial year has ended.

Voluntary Euthanasia Society

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times the Government have consulted the Voluntary Euthanasia Society on end of life decision making since 1997, and on what issues.

Rosie Winterton: We are not aware of any formal consultation with the Voluntary Euthanasia Society regarding end of life decision-making since 1997. The Government have been in dialogue with a range of groups, including the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, particularly during the preparation of a series of leaflets on making decisions on behalf of mentally incapacitated adults and continue to listen carefully to arguments put forward by all sides.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Dredging

Norman Lamb: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much income has been raised by the Crown Estates from dredging licences issued in respect of (a) all dredging offshore and (b) dredging of sites off the Norfolk coast, broken down by individual dredging licence, in (i) 2002 and (ii) 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: While my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister is responsible for determining the environmental consents which are needed to support marine dredging licences issued by the Crown Estate, he has no responsibility for the Crown Estate itself or for its royalty revenues from marine minerals dredging.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 30 October 2003, Official Report, column 334W, which included information from the Crown Estate that stated that its royalty income for 2002 from marine minerals dredging off the Norfolk coast was 5.29 million. The Crown Estate has now informed me that its total royalty income for 2002 from all offshore marine minerals dredging was 13.02 million. Comparable figures for 2003 are not yet available. The Crown Estate has also advised me that its policy is to release financial details of individual licences or leases only with the agreement of the companies involved because the information can be commercially sensitive.
	Information about marine dredging licences and licensees can be obtained from the Crown Estate website at www.crownestate.co.uk

Failed House Sales

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister by what percentage he estimates the number of failed housing market transactions will fall as a consequence of the proposed introduction of homebuyers packs.

Yvette Cooper: Research carried out on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has indicated that under the present home buying and selling process 28 per cent. of transactions fail after terms have been agreed, and that this costs consumers some 350 million each year in wasted expenditure.
	It is not possible to estimate accurately at this time by how much this failure rate will reduce following the introduction of home information packs. In evidence to the Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee an estate agent who has operated home information packs since 1996 said that in her agency the failure rate where homes are marketed with a pack is 3 per cent. compared to 26 per cent. where homes are marketed without a pack.
	This reduction is due to information that could threaten or delay the transaction (e.g. a survey that both seller and buyer can rely on) being made available at the beginning of the process.

Firefighters

John Gummer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the job losses in (a) Suffolk and (b) East Anglia which will result from the regionalisation of the Fire Service;
	(2)  what reduction in the number of managerial jobs he expects to result from the regionalisation of the Fire Service in East Anglia;
	(3)  what (a) operational benefits and (b) other advantages to the people of East Suffolk he expects to accrue from his plans to regionalise the Fire Service;
	(4)  what financial benefits to (a) the Treasury, (b) Suffolk county council, (c) taxpayers and (d) council taxpayers in Suffolk he expects to accrue from his plans to regionalise the Fire Service;
	(5)  what discussions he has had with (a) retained and (b) full-time firefighters in Suffolk on his plans to regionalise the Fire Service; and what their advice was;
	(6)  what community consultation he has held in Suffolk on his plans to regionalise the Fire Service;
	(7)  what discussions he has had with the Suffolk Police Authority on his plans to regionalise the Fire Service;
	(8)  what discussions he has had with Suffolk county council on his plans to regionalise the Fire Service;
	(9)  whom he has consulted on the plans to regionalise Suffolk's Fire Service.

Nick Raynsford: The Government are not proposing to regionalise the fire and rescue service in the East of England. Suffolk county council will continue to be responsible for the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service. The White Paper (Cm 5808) made clear that only where voters choose to have an Elected Regional Assembly will there be a change to the democratic accountability of the service.
	The Government's overriding objective is to save lives by doing more to prevent fires occurring in the first place. The White Paper also set out the government's expectation that existing fire authorities, including those in the East of England, would develop robust regional management arrangements to deliver the functions which are most efficiently and effectively performed at a regional level. Under these arrangements staff numbers in the East of England will continue to be a matter for the individual Fire and Rescue Authority employers concerned.
	Operationally, the benefits of the regional approach will be improved resilience to terrorism and to major incidents such as flooding, integrated modern control rooms with the latest technology and improved specialist fire investigation.
	Financially, procurement, training and human resource functions will all benefit from standardisation and pooling of resources and expertise. It is not possible to provide a meaningful breakdown of the respective benefits these savings will bring to central Government, individual citizens and localities, but all will benefit from a reduction in the 6.63 billion annual cost of fire to the economy in England and Wales.
	The Government are currently consulting on their draft National Framework for the Fire and Rescue Service. Those to whom the document has been sent include the Chairs of individual Fire Authorities, the Local Government Association and a wide range of bodies representing both retained and full time staff. Police authorities have not been specifically consulted, but comments from all stakeholders are invited by 12 March 2004.
	In addition, all aspects of fire modernisation are discussed when we meet interested parties from time-to-time in the course of our Ministerial duties. The Chief Fire Officer for Suffolk attended the Fire and Rescue Service seminar on 3 December 2003 addressed by the right hon. Nick Raynsford MP and Phil Hope MP, and officials from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister expect to visit the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service shortly.

Firefighters

John Gummer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister under what powers he would implement the regionalisation of the Fire Service without the consent of Suffolk county council.

Nick Raynsford: It is expected that the voluntary arrangements proposed in the White Paper Our Fire and Rescue Service will succeed. However, the Fire and Rescue Services Bill will strengthen and streamline the existing power in Section 6 of the Fire Services Act 1947 to combine Fire and Rescue Authorities, after consultation with the existing authorities and other persons affected.

Firefighters

John Gummer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what evidence he has received to support his proposal that the fire station in Orford would provide a swifter and more efficient service if controlled by the same centralised system as Rickmansworth;
	(2)  what research relating to East Anglia he has commissioned to provide factual backing for his plans to regionalise the Fire Service.

Nick Raynsford: The Government's conclusions about the benefits of a regional approach are set out in the White Paper Our Fire and Rescue Service (Cm 5808), and are informed by, a number of reviews of the service, culminating in the report of the Independent Review of the Fire Service published in December 2002. These reports are listed in the White Paper.
	The Mott MacDonald report on the Future of Fire and Rescue Service Control Rooms in England and Wales, published in December 2003, concluded that the optimum solution to secure efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of fire and rescue service control rooms would be nine control rooms in England one matched to the areas of the Government Offices for the Regions. The Government accepts the conclusions of the Mott MacDonald report, and is consulting on implementation. Copies of the report and a related one by Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate are available in the Library of the House.
	A recent report by Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate concluded that local purchasing arrangements based on individual preferences are not the most efficient means of obtaining goods, services and equipment. I am placing copies in the Library. These documents, while not specific to East Anglia, are applicable to the area.

Home Improvement Agencies

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made on national coverage of home improvement agencies (HIAs); how this progress measures against the Government's targets for HIAs; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has invited Supporting People administering authorities to bid for a proportion of the extra 2 million being made available from 1 April 2004 to restructure and to expand the Sector's current geographical coverage. Bids must be submitted to Foundations, the National Co-ordinating Body for Home Improvement Agencies, by 31 January 2004.

Mobile Phone Masts

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he last met representatives of the mobile phone industry to discuss siting of phone masts.

Keith Hill: I have not held any meetings with representatives of the mobile phone industry to discuss siting of phone masts. However, my hon. Friend the Member for Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) will be meeting representatives of the Mobile Operators' Association and the five commercial network operators on 19 January.

Somerset County Council

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding was provided to Somerset County Council in (a) 200102, (b) 200203 and (c) 200304.

Nick Raynsford: The table gives details of revenue grants received by Somerset County Council as part of gross Aggregate External Finance (AEF) between 200102 to 200304.
	
		000
		
			  200102 200203 200304 
		
		
			 Revenue Support Grant 117,071 112,197 140,412 
			 National Non-Domestic Rates 120,178 131,815 133,669 
			 Specific Grants within AEF(2) 48,090 45,981 64,472 
			 Total Central Government Support 285,339 289,993 338,553 
		
	
	(2) Information on specific grants up until 200203 is taken from local authority outturn returns. For 200304, where outturn information is not yet available this is based on local authority budget returns.
	Note:
	The grants are on an unadjusted basis and may not be comparable between years, because transfers of function may have taken place.

TREASURY

Child Trust Funds

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures his Department has taken to prevent investment companies offering child trust funds from offering reduced services to customers who do not invest the maximum sum permitted.

Ruth Kelly: Providers who want to offer child trust fund accounts will need to be approved by the Inland Revenue and will have to satisfy various conditions. All Child Trust Fund providers will be required to offer a stakeholder account. This will mean that a simple, low cost, accessible and risk-controlled account will be available for all. Full details of this and other conditions, such as the requirement for all children to receive annual statements, will be set out in the child trust fund regulations. We will publish draft regulations during the passage of the Child Trust Funds Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.

Ethical Financial Policies

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assistance the Treasury offers local authorities in developing (a) ethical and (b) environmental (i) investment, (ii) banking and (iii) procurement policies.

Ruth Kelly: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), together with other Government Departments, offers assistance to local authorities in relation to these matters.
	The standards of ethical conduct expected from members of local authorities in all areas are laid down in a model code issued by ODPM in November 2001.
	Local authorities have wide discretion to determine policies on investment and banking. New guidelines on prudent investment practice will come into effect from 1 April 2004. These guidelines enable ethical and environmental considerations to be fully taken into account by local authorities.
	Guidance on Sustainable Procurement has been issued by The Office of Government Commerce and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Gift Aid

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the withdrawal of Gift Aid from charitable membership;
	(2)  how much he expects to raise from withdrawing Gift Aid from charitable membership;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of whether charities are likely to close as a result of the withdrawal of Gift Aid from charitable membership;
	(4)  what timescale he envisages for the withdrawal of Gift Aid from charitable membership;
	(5)  what assessment he has made of the cost to charities of the withdrawal of Gift Aid from charitable membership.

John Healey: holding answer 12 January 2004
	Gift Aid is designed to promote giving to charity by individuals. It has delivered significant benefits to all fundraising charities. Donations to charities using Gift Aid are subject to rules governing the level of benefit that a donor can receive from the charity in return for a gift. If a gift exceeds these limits then Gift Aid cannot be claimed on the gift. However, under a special exemption introduced in 1989 and imported into Gift Aid as part of a wider reform in 2000, certain heritage and conservation charities are able to claim Gift Aid on membership subscriptions in the same way as they were previously able to claim tax refunds under Deeds of Covenant. Deeds of Covenant lasted for at least three years, meaning that a donor was required to have an ongoing commitment to a charity, but Gift Aid can apply to one-off donations as well.
	A number of charities eligible for the special exemption are claiming Gift Aid tax refunds under so-called 'day membership' schemes. These schemes do not generate additional giving, but simply reclassify admission fees as donations on which Gift Aid is being claimed.
	The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the pre-Budget report (Cm 6042) that the Government will amend the Gift Aid legislation to ensure that the special exemption applies as it was originally intended and not to these 'day memberships'.
	This will mean that heritage and conservation charities will continue to benefit from the special exemption where a donor has an ongoing commitment to the charity, such as an annual membership, and these charitieslike other fundraising charitieswill continue to benefit from Gift Aid on other donations of money.
	No estimate is available of the amount of money being claimed by charities which are taking advantage of this. Charities are not required to differentiate on their Gift Aid claims the amounts they are claiming for 'day membership' income from other amounts they are claiming. However, the purpose of this measure is not to raise revenue but to maintain a level playing field for all charities. It is unfair that some charities are claiming Gift Aid payments on what is in effect an admission fee when most other charities cannot.
	We will work closely with those charities affected to ensure that the change operates as intended and that the impact on them is minimised. The Government intend to announce final details of the changes in this year's Budget and introduce legislation in the next Finance Bill.

Iraq

Bill Tynan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had (a) as part of the Paris Club, (b) with Gulf states and (c) with other states regarding the cancellation, reduction and rescheduling of Iraq's sovereign debt.

John Healey: The UK believes that Iraq's external debt is unsustainable and that creditors will need to agree a significant reduction through a clear multilateral process in order to restore Iraq to sustainability. This is likely to lead to the writing off the vast majority of Iraq's external debt. The UK would like to see this agreed by creditors before the end of 2004.
	The UK welcomed the success of the US Presidential Envoy, James A. Baker III, in creating a G7 consensus on the need for substantial debt reduction for Iraq in the Paris Club during 2004.
	The UK frequently discusses Iraq's debt problems with international partners and with international financial institutions, including discussions in the Paris Club, with the aim of broadening and deepening the emerging international consensus.

Public Sector Pensions

Bob Laxton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the level of the Government's public sector pensions liability.

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 14 January 2004, Official Report, column 816W.

Tax Credits

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the letter of 2 December 2003 from the Paymaster General to the hon. Member for Northavon, on tax credits compensation, how many claims for compensation were submitted to the Inland Revenue up to the end of September 2003; and what the (a) minimum and (b) maximum compensation payments were that were made.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Sir Archy Kirkwood) and the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb) on 19 November 2003, Official Report, column 1100W.

Tax Returns (Self-Assessment)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the investigation by the Inland Revenue and the e-Envoy into the breaches of confidentiality relating to self-assessment tax returns filed via the internet.

Dawn Primarolo: SA Online, the Inland Revenue tax return software was temporarily withdrawn on 27 May 2002 following reports from some customers that they had seen information relating to another person. The actual internet service for self assessment remained available to users of alternative tax return software.
	The Inland Revenue acted quickly to safeguard taxpayer information. They immediately withdrew the service and called in Qinetiq, an independent security company, as well as experts from the e-Envoy's office.
	After an extensive investigation Qinetiq and the experts from the Office of e-Envoy agreed that the Inland Revenue had
	identified the root cause of the problem; and
	implemented the necessary changes to ensure it does not occur again.
	There has been no repeat of this incident.
	Key findings were shared with the Office of E-envoy and other Government Departments.

Tax Returns (Self-Assessment)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the studies by the Inland Revenue into introducing new methods of payment of self-assessment liabilities.

Dawn Primarolo: IR is currently carrying out studies aimed at expanding the payment methods that are already on offer.
	Direct DebitFor customers who are interested in making regular payments on account in advance of their SA tax becoming due IR offers a limited service called Budget Payment Plan. A current study is looking to develop a national service that will extend the use of the Inland Revenue's Direct Debit systems.
	Debit cardA current study is looking at the feasibility of providing, a National system to enable all IR Local Recovery Offices to accept Debit card payments.
	Credit cardsWork on payment by credit card is on-going but there are many factors to consider before offering the facility to pay self-assessment debts by Credit card.

Tax Returns (Self-Assessment)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on current delays in processing self-assessment tax returns received by the Inland Revenue.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue have met their targets for capturing the information included in self-assessment tax returns every year since self assessment was introduced and fully expect to do so again this year.

Tax Returns (Self-Assessment)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of taxpayers filed their self-assessment tax returns by the due date in 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: 90.5 per cent. of self-assessment taxpayers filed their 200102 self assessment tax returns by the due date (31 January 2003).

Tax Returns (Self-Assessment)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will change the inquiry window regarding self-assessment tax returns from running for 12 months from 31 January to 12 months from the date a return is received; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: There are no plans to change the self-assessment inquiry window to run for 12 months from the date a return is received.

Tax Returns (Self-Assessment)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many self-assessment tax returns have remained outstanding from each year since the system was introduced; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Out of approximately nine million self-assessment returns issued annually, the number outstanding for each tax year as at the end of November 2003 was as shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Return year Returns outstanding 
		
		
			 1997 36,065 
			 1998 55,357 
			 1999 83,954 
			 2000 136,984 
			 2001 219,088 
			 2002 389,939

Tax Returns (Self-Assessment)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many taxpayers have filed their self-assessment tax returns via the internet in each year since this service became available; whether he expects that the 50 per cent. target for internet filing of self-assessment tax returns will be met by 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue received the following number of returns electronically in the following years:
	200001: The number of returns received electronically by the Inland Revenue was 336,127. 296,837 of these were received via the Electronic Lodgement Service and 39,290 via the Internet Service.
	200102: The number of returns received electronically by the Inland Revenue was 419,236. 343,009 of these were received via the Electronic Lodgement Service and 76,287 via the internet service.
	200203: The number of tax returns received electronically by the Inland Revenue was 705,690. 370,051 of these were received via the Electronic Lodgement Service and 335,639 via the Internet service.
	200304: The number of tax returns received electronically by the Inland Revenue at 9 January 2004 was 649,338. 209,515 of these were received via the Electronic Lodgement Service and 439,823 via the Internet service.
	The target for electronic filing of self-assessment tax returns is that 25 per cent. of all self-assessment returns will be received electronically by 5 April 2006. Electronically means by the Internet service or the Electronic Lodgement Service. The Inland Revenue is on course to meet this target.

Taxation Adjustments

James Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value was of adjustments in favour of taxpayers resulting from compliance cases processed by the Large Business Office of Inland Revenue in each year since 199798; and in which years these sums were included in the Large Business Office's total compliance performance reported in Inland Revenue annual reports.

Dawn Primarolo: The figures for the value of adjustments in favour of taxpayers as a result of LBO inquiries are:
	
		
			   million 
		
		
			 19992000 132 
			 200001 75 
			 200102 130 
			 200203 209 
		
	
	Data to provide this analysis is not available for earlier years.
	The amounts for 19992000 to 200102 were included in the total given for the effect of LBO interventions for those years. For 200203 only the amount for revenue favour adjustments was shown.
	Adjustments are recorded for the year in which they are settled.

UK Company Profitability

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of total UK company turnover has been spent on (a) company taxation, (b) national insurance contributions and (c) corporation tax in each of the last 10 years.

Dawn Primarolo: It is not possible from the tax records available centrally to provide the information requested.

UK Company Profitability

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the productivity of UK companies with (a) 149, (b) 5099, (c) 100249, (d) 250499, (e) 500999 and (f) more than 1,000 employees has been in each quarter since 1997.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Stephen O'Brien, dated 15 January 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on the productivity of UK companies. I am replying in his absence. (148178)
	The Office for National Statistics does not produce quarterly (or annual) estimates of productivity by size band of number of employees. Existing quarterly surveys are not suitable for producing output series by size band. They have a relatively small sample and do not include the very smallest companies (19 employees) and include very few with fewer than 50 employees in order to limit the statistical reporting burden on business.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Animal Experiments

Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many animals have been used in scientific procedures in each of the last 10 years; and what action he is taking to reduce these numbers;
	(2)  what action he is taking (a) to reduce the numbers of animals used in scientific procedures and (b) to encourage the use of alternatives;
	(3)  what action he is taking to ensure that the use of animals in scientific experiments is restricted to those experiments where no alternative methods are available.

Caroline Flint: The number of animals used in scientific procedures in Great Britain in each of the last ten years for which figures are available is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1993 2,759,940 
			 1994 2,772,758 
			 1995 2,637,847 
			 1996 2,646,026 
			 1997 2,573,088 
			 1998 2,593,587 
			 1999 2,569,295 
			 2000 2,642,993 
			 2001 2,567,713 
			 2002 2,655,876 
		
	
	Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, the Home Office can only license the use of animals for scientific purposes where there is no non-animal alternative, and then only when both the number of animals to be used and any resulting suffering is minimised. This reflects the principles of the 3Rsthe refinement of scientific procedures, the reduction of the number of animals used and their replacement with other methods wherever possible. However, as a demand-led regulator working on a case-by-case basis, we have no control over the total amount of research taking place. That is determined by a number of factors, including the economic climate and global trends in scientific endeavour.
	It is essential that we continue to regulate effectively. We must also continue to apply fully the 3Rs, and to support and encourage their development and promotion. We do this in a number of ways. For example, all applications are subjected to scrutiny within institutional local ethical review processes at licensed establishments, and are also assessed separately by Home Office Inspectors, who are all either medical or veterinary graduates, to ensure that no relevant replacement, reduction or refinement measure has been overlooked.
	We are also currently exploring the recommendation by the House of Lords Select Committee on Animals in Scientific Procedures that there should be a United Kingdom centre for research into the 3Rs. This is being considered by the Inter-Departmental Group on the 3Rs, led by the Home Office and also comprising officials from the Department of Health, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Office of Science and Technology, the Food Standards Agency, the Health and Safety Executive, and other agencies. The Inter-Departmental Group is also reviewing the effectiveness of the Inter-Departmental Data Sharing Concordat announced in August 2000, which commits United Kingdom regulatory authorities to help resolve legal and other obstacles and encourages data sharing between clients to reduce animal testing. The Inter-Departmental Group will report back to me on both of these issues shortly.
	In addition, every year the Home Office makes available to the Animal Procedures Committee a budget aimed at developing or promoting the 3Rs. The amount made available to the Committee for 20032004 for this specific purpose is 280,000. Work aimed at improving the environmental conditions in which laboratory animals are kept and transported has also been sponsored. This is not the only money spent by Government on the 3Rs. We estimate that Government Departments, agencies and funding bodies spend up to 10 million each year on such research. Industry spends a great deal more.
	On an international level, the United Kingdom Government supports the European Centre for the Validation of Alternatives Methods (ECVAM) through contributions to the European Union. It is the task of ECVAM to monitor and co-ordinate research into alternatives and to develop the processes of validation, that is, the assessment of alternative methods to see whether they are reliable and whether they produce a level of information similar to the animal based tests they are to replace.
	This is not, however, an area where quick gains can be expected. In the longer term, we believe that further significant reduction in animal use will, and must, continue to rely largely on the scientific community's own efforts to develop, validate and adopt more advanced methods based on the 3Rs.

Animal Experiments

Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to ensure that the highest standards of animal welfare are implemented in establishments using animals to carry out scientific procedures.

Caroline Flint: The Government are fully committed to the effective and efficient implementation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 which makes provision for the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes while recognising the need to use animals in medical research, the development of new medicines, and scientific testing.
	Under the 1986 Act, both personal and project licences are required. These ensure that those doing the work are qualified and suitable; that alternatives to animals are used wherever possible; that the number of animals used is minimised; and that any suffering or other harmful effects experienced by the animals have been weighed against the potential benefits (to humans or animals) and have been minimised.
	In addition, work can only be carried out at designated establishments which have suitable veterinary and animal welfare personnel and the standards of accommodation and care provided for the animals must meet or surpass the provisions of Home Office codes of practice. Under the Act, the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate is charged with inspecting designated places to monitor compliance with these codes of practice and the licence authorities. About 2,500 inspections are made annually of which two thirds are made without notice. The number of visits made to each establishment during the year is determined by its size and the type of work carried out.

Animal Experiments

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money has been made available to the Animal Procedures Committee in each year since 1997 specifically aimed at (a) developing and (b) promoting alternatives to animal experimentation; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: Since the financial year 198889, the Home Office has made available to the Animal Procedures Committee a budget for the development and promotion of alternatives which replace animal use, reduce the number of animals used, or refine the procedures involved to minimise suffering (the 3Rs). Work aimed at improving the environmental conditions in which laboratory animals are kept and transported has also been sponsored. Details of completed research are published in the Annual Reports of the Animal Procedures Committee, which are available from The Stationery Office and, for recent years, on the Committee's website.
	The Committee seeks to allocate 60 per cent. of the budgets provided on research into reducing, refining and replacing the use of animals in scientific procedures and another 20 per cent. on the development and promotion of awareness and use of alternatives. The Committee seeks to allocate the remaining 20 per cent. to research into the operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
	The budget provided to the Committee for these purposes in each year since 199798 was:
	
		
			   
		
		
			 199798 242,000 
			 199899 182,000 
			 19992000 259,000 
			 200001 259,000 
			 200102 265,000 
			 200203 280,000 
			 200304 280,000

Asylum

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with EU partners concerning asylum.

Beverley Hughes: Government Ministers have regular discussions with counterparts in other member states on asylum issues. These discussions take place within formal bilaterals and Justice and Home Affairs Councils, as well as in the margins of other meetings.

Asylum

Mohammad Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum applications were made in 2003; what the countries of origin were; and if he will make a statement.
	 Question number missing in Hansard, possibly truncated question.

Beverley Hughes: The table shows asylum applications to the UK by nationality for the first three quarters of 2003.
	Information on asylum applications is published quarterly. Data for the fourth quarter and consequently the whole of 2003 will be available in the next publication at the end of February 2004 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		Applications(3) received for asylum in the United Kingdom, excluding dependants, by nationality and location where made, January-September 2003 -- Number of principal applicants
		
			  Quarter 1 Quarter 2 
			 Nationality Total Applied at port Applied in country Total Applied at port Applied in country 
		
		
			 Europe   
			 Albania 230 10 215 140 10 125 
			 Czech Republic 20 15 5 20 15 5 
			 Macedonia 35 5 30 10 * 10 
			 Moldova 185 5 170 5 10 65 
			 Poland 35 0 25 20 10 15 
			 Romania 245 30 215 95 15 75 
			 Russia 70 15 55 65 5 60 
			 SAM(4) 345 20 325 175 15 155 
			 Turkey 645 355 290 585 325 260 
			 Ukraine 95 15 80 65 20 50 
			 Other Former USSR 175 20 155 135 25 105 
			 Other Former Yugoslavia 215 * 25 10 * 10 
			 Europe other 2055 5 20 20 10 10 
			 Europe total 2,125 525 1,605 1,415 465 950 
			 Americas   
			 Colombia 90 15 70 60 20 40 
			 Ecuador 65 15 55 40 10 30 
			 Jamaica 390 65 325 215 35 180 
			 Americas other 80 25 55 60 25 35 
			 Americas total 625 120 505 370 85 285 
			 Middle East   
			 Iran 655 190 465 625 190 435 
			 Iraq 2,135 270 1,865 635 65 570 
			 Middle East other 265 85 180 230 80 150 
			 Middle East total 3,055 540 2,515 1,490 340 1,155 
			 Africa   
			 Algeria 210 35 175 100 15 85 
			 Angola 300 40 260 165 25 135 
			 Burundi 210 35 175 145 25 120 
			 Cameroon 185 20 165 95 25 70 
			 Congo 145 25 120 55 15 45 
			 Dem. Rep. Congo 460 100 360 300 65 235 
			 Eritrea 245 115 135 185 80 110 
			 Ethiopia 145 80 65 120 50 70 
			 Gambia 15 5 10 30 15 20 
			 Ghana 70 15 55 80 20 60 
			 Ivory Coast 205 40 165 90 20 70 
			 Kenya 85 20 65 60 10 50 
			 Nigeria 350 180 170 250 130 120 
			 Rwanda 120 15 105 70 30 40 
			 Sierra Leone 165 90 75 85 40 50 
			 Somalia 1,515 195 1,320 900 140 760 
			 Sudan 95 25 75 135 30 105 
			 Tanzania 10 5 5 5 * 5 
			 Uganda 225 10 210 165 5 160 
			 Zimbabwe 1,075 215 860 815 210 605 
			 Africa other 410 210 200 340 170 170 
			 Africa total 6,255 1,475 4,780 4,200 1,105 3,095 
			 Asia   
			 Afghanistan 950 200 755 485 185 300 
			 Bangladesh 205 25 180 190 25 165 
			 China 915 630 280 705 525 180 
			 India 490 190 295 645 260 385 
			 Pakistan 490 175 320 375 85 290 
			 Sri Lanka 300 135 165 245 130 115 
			 Vietnam 345 60 285 230 75 155 
			 Asia other 215 45 170 210 80 130 
			 Asia total 3,910 1,460 2,445 3,090 1,370 1,720 
			 Other, and nationality 30 20 10 15 10 5 
			 not known 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			
			 Grand total 16,000 4,140 11,860 10,585 3,370 7,210 
		
	
	
		
			  Quarter 3 January-September 2003 
			 Nationality Total Applied at port Applied in country Total Applied at port Applied in country 
		
		
			 Europe   
			 Albania 125 10 115 490 35 460 
			 Czech Republic 25 15 10 65 45 20 
			 Macedonia 10 * 5 55 5 45 
			 Moldova 70 15 55 330 40 290 
			 Poland 10 * 10 70 20 50 
			 Romania 120 25 90 455 75 380 
			 Russia 65 10 55 205 35 170 
			 SAM(4) 170 10 155 690 50 640 
			 Turkey 530 260 265 1,760 940 820 
			 Ukraine 85 15 70 250 50 200 
			 Other Former USSR 170 45 125 480 95 385 
			 Other Former Yugoslavia 5 0 5 40 5 40 
			 Europe other 15 5 5 55 20 35 
			 Europe total 1,400 420 980 4,945 1,410 3,535 
			 Americas   
			 Colombia 40 10 30 190 45 145 
			 Ecuador 25 * 25 130 25 110 
			 Jamaica 190 20 170 790 115 675 
			 Americas other 40 20 20 175 70 110 
			 Americas total 290 50 245 1,290 250 1,035 
			 Middle East   
			 Iran 860 210 650 2,140 590 1,550 
			 Iraq 690 50 640 3,465 385 3,080 
			 Middle East other 285 105 180 780 270 505 
			 Middle East Total 1,835 365 1,470 6,380 1,245 5,135 
			 Africa   
			 Algeria 125 10 110 430 60 375 
			 Angola 215 40 175 680 105 570 
			 Burundi 170 30 135 525 90 435 
			 Cameroon 95 10 85 375 55 320 
			 Congo 70 15 55 270 55 220 
			 Dem. Rep. Congo 380 75 305 1,145 240 905 
			 Eritrea 290 100 190 725 295 430 
			 Ethiopia 190 55 135 455 185 275 
			 Gambia 20 5 10 65 25 40 
			 Ghana 85 20 70 235 55 185 
			 Ivory Coast 50 15 30 345 75 265 
			 Kenya 35 5 30 180 35 145 
			 Nigeria 190 90 100 795 400 395 
			 Rwanda 45 15 30 235 60 175 
			 Sierra Leone 70 20 50 325 150 175 
			 Somalia 1,440 200 1,240 3,850 535 3,320 
			 Sudan 320 40 280 550 90 460 
			 Tanzania 10 5 5 25 10 15 
			 Uganda 170 10 160 560 25 535 
			 Zimbabwe 710 145 565 2,595 565 2,030 
			 Africa other 480 190 290 1,230 570 660 
			 Africa total 5,155 1,100 4,055 15,605 3,680 11,925 
			 Asia   
			 Afghanistan 470 165 305 1,910 550 1,360 
			 Bangladesh 190 25 165 580 70 510 
			 China 965 715 250 2,585 1,875 715 
			 India 655 310 345 1,790 765 1,025 
			 Pakistan 495 150 340 1,360 410 950 
			 Sri Lanka 85 30 60 630 290 335 
			 Vietnam 260 10 245 835 150 685 
			 Asia other 135 35 100 560 165 400 
			 Asia total 3,255 1,445 1,810 10,255 4,275 5,980 
			 Other, and nationality 20 15 10 65 45 20 
			 not known 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			
			 Grand Total 11,955 3,395 8,560 38,540 10,905 27,630 
		
	
	(3) Figures are provisional and have been rounded to the nearest 5 with * = 1 or 2.
	(4) Serbia and Montenegro (SAM) replaced Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) from 5 February 2003. SAM comprises the Republic of Serbia, the Republic of Montenegro, and the Province of Kosovo (administered by the UN on an interim basis since 1999)

Asylum

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many initial decision makers for asylum applications were in post on 1 October in each of the last six years.

Beverley Hughes: Records are available for the years from 2000. The number of staff deployed on decision-making depends on the volume of cases. Internal management information indicates that, as the backlog of outstanding applications has fallen and decisions have been made more quickly, the number of full-time equivalent staff deployed on making initial decisions for asylum applications was 477 in October 2000, 465 in October 2001, 396 in October 2002 and 365 in October 2003.

Asylum

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what written representations he has received from the First Minister of Scotland concerning his policy in relation to the detention of families with children in removal centres.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 8 December 2003
	No written representations have been received from the First Minister of Scotland on detention policy as this is a reserved matter. The First Minister has, however, written recently to me emphasising the importance of the UK Government's careful engagement with this issue.

Asylum

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to permit asylum seekers in general to take up employment.

Beverley Hughes: There are no plans to allow asylum seekers in general to take employment. The European directive on reception standards for asylum seekers comes into force in February 2005. At that time asylum seekers who have waited more than one year for an initial decision on their claim will be able to seek permission to work. Although the employment concession for asylum seekers was abolished on 23 July 2002 we retain discretion to allow asylum seekers to work. The discretion is exercised sparingly but might be appropriate in cases where an asylum seeker has, through no fault of their own, waited for longer than 12 months for an initial decision on their claim. The majority of asylum claims receive an initial decision well within this period. 81 per cent. of applications for asylum received in the period April to June 2003 had initial decisions reached and served within two months.
	We are currently considering whether asylum seekers and failed asylum seekers currently in work whose employment would meet the requirements for the issue of a work permit should be allowed to remain in employment.

Asylum

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Kent county council will receive central government funding in respect of the costs of asylum seekers outstanding for the financial years (a) 200102 and (b) 200203; when funding will be received for the 200304 financial year; and what estimate he has made of the cost to Kent county council in respect of support of asylum seekers between April and November.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 16 December 2003
	All amounts claimed for 200102 by Kent county councilin respect of support for Adults and Families and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker Children (UASCs)have been settled. Payments on account of the 200203 claim have been made but the final claim is subject to audit before it can be settled.
	Payments on account for Adults and Families have been made to Kent county council for 200304, based on grant claims submitted for the first two quarters. Payments on account have also been made in respect of UASC support costs, using the provisional rate for 200304.
	Claims for the third quarter have not yet been submitted and so the Home Office's estimates have been made on the basis of the previous claims submitted for the current year.

Asylum

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers were removed or made a voluntary departure to the 10 East European candidate states for membership of the European Union (a) in each of the last three years and (b) in the first half of 2003.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 4 December 2003
	Information on the destination of removals and voluntary departures is not available.
	Estimates of the number of nationals of the 10 East European candidate states who had sought asylum at some stage and who were removed between January 2001 and June 2003 are shown in the following table. These figures include persons departing 'voluntarily' after the initiation of enforcement action against them, and persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Returns Programmes run by the International Organization for Migration.
	Information on the nationality of persons removed in 2000 and on those persons who departed voluntarily without informing the Home Office is not available.
	
		Removals and voluntary(5) departure of asylum applicants, excluding dependants, of EU accession states, January 2001 to June 2003(6),(8)
		
			 Nationality 2001 2002(9) January to June 2003(9) 
		
		
			 Poland 605 635 470 
			 Czech Republic 800 790 585 
			 Hungary 5 10 5 
			 Lithuania 320 310 125 
			 Latvia 170 175 90 
			 Estonia 60 65 25 
			 Slovakia 60 75 30 
			 Slovenia *  * 
			 Cyprus(7) 5 15 5 
			 Malta *   
			 Total 2,035 2,070 1,340 
		
	
	(5) Includes persons departing 'voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them, persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration, and removals on safe third country grounds.
	(6) Figures rounded to the nearest five, with * = 1 or 2, and may not sum due to rounding.
	(7) Data exclude nationals of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus.
	(8) Data have been estimated due to data quality issues.
	(9) Provisional figures.
	The number of applications from nationals of the accession countries fell from 250 in October 2002 to 25 in June 2003 following the introduction (in November 2002) of the non-suspensive appeal measure included in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.
	The Home Office will continue to remove nationals of the candidate states in the same circumstances as now up until accession, although this will be kept under constant review. This is being done in the interests of maintaining an effective immigration control and the need to control numbers prior to accession; because we are not legally obliged to grant free movement rights under 1 May; and because we are giving free movement rights earlier than some other member states.
	Data on the removals by nationality are available from the Home Office website at: http://www. homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases heard by the Immigration Appeals Tribunal in each of the last five years for which figures are available the tribunal upheld the decision being appealed.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 8 December 2003
	Data on the number of cases in which the Immigration Appeals Tribunal upheld the decision being appealed, in each of the last five years for which figures are available, are given in the following table. Appeals received do not necessarily correspond to appeals determined in any given year.
	Statistics on appeals to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal are published annually. The latest publication, Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 2002, is available on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		Asylum appealsFurther appeals to the Tribunal, decisions, and the outcome of Tribunal Hearings, excluding dependants, 1994 to 2002(10) -- Number of principal appellants
		
			  Appeals to the Tribunal(11) Outcome of Tribunal Hearings(12) 
			  Received Determined Allowed Dismissed Withdrawn Remitted to adjudicatorsfor further consideration 
		
		
			 1998 1,775 (13)1,090 
			 1999 2,135 1,790 
			 2000 1,615 2,635 815 1,385 220 215 
			 2001 3,860 3,190 475 1,140 150 1,430 
			 2002(14) 6,920 5,565 620 2,015 225 2,700 
		
	
	(10) Figures rounded to the nearest 5. Numbers might not add up due to rounding.
	(11) Figures based on data supplied by the Lord Chancellor's Department. Decisions and determinations do not necessarily correspond to applications and appeals received in any given year.
	(12) Figures supplied by the Presenting Officers Unit. Figures for October to December 1999 are based on data for November to December.
	(13) Revised figures.
	(14) Provisional figures.

Asylum

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what basis he judges that the terms of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill as regards the removal of the children of asylum seekers are compatible with (a) the Human Rights Act 1998, (b) the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and (c) section 1 of the Children Act 1989.

Beverley Hughes: The Bill creates no powers for the removal of children of failed asylum seekers from their parents. Insofar as the withdrawal of support from people who have failed to establish a right to political asylum and who refuse to co-operate in their removal from the country leads to consideratipn by local authorities of the need for support for their children, it will be provided in a way that is consistent with the Human Rights Act, the Children Act and the United Kingdom's obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Asylum

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been granted permission to work due to exceptional circumstances; and what criteria are used to determine whether an application will succeed.

Beverley Hughes: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Generally speaking, however, asylum seekers are not now allowed to take employment while their claim for asylum is pending. Prior to 23 July 2002 asylum seekers could request permission to work if their claim remained outstanding for longer than six months without a decision being made on it. The concession was abolished on 23 July 2002.
	The majority of asylum claims receive an initial decision well within six months. 81 per cent. of applications for asylum received in the period AprilJune 2003 had initial decisions reached and served within two months. 74 per cent. of applications for asylum received in 200203 had initial decisions reached and served within two months, 84 per cent. within four months and 87 per cent. within six months. The number of asylum seekers who would have been able to benefit from the concession had it remained in force is now much reduced.

Asylum

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost to West Sussex county council of the judgment in Behre and others v. Hillingdon London borough council, on asylum seekers in local authority care.

Beverley Hughes: The Home Office and the Department for Education and Skills are at present reviewing the grants arrangements for support of unaccompanied asylum seeker children (UASC) in the light of the Hillingdon judgment. A decision on the 200304 grant will be made shortly.

Asylum

Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from local authorities on the implications for them of children being taken into care under the provisions in the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 5 January 2004
	We received six representations on the provision in question from local authorities, or organisations representing them or the services they administer, during the consultation exercise we carried out recently. As we made clear in our response to this exercise, it is our objective to ensure that few, if any, children need to be taken into care as a result of this provision, and officials are meeting the Local Government Association in order to discuss its practical application.

Asylum

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have been housed at Oakington Immigration Reception Centre during 2003 as a result of the detention overspill facility.

Beverley Hughes: Following the success of the NSA process in 2002 that resulted in considerable intake reduction earlier than anticipated, there was the potential for utilisation of the Oakington facility. In line with considerations of public financial accountability a decision was taken to use part of the facility to detain families prior to removal on flights from nearby Stansted. It continued to be used for this purpose successfully throughout 2003.
	The latest available information on people held in the immigration removal estate show that as at 27 September 2003260 people were housed at the Oakington Immigration Reception Centre. Information on the number of these who were there as a result of the detention overspill facility and on the total number of people detained in 2003 is not available except by examination of individual case-files at disproportionate cost.

Asylum

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what purposes, in addition to making initial decisions on asylum applications, detainees are housed at the Oakington Immigration Reception Centre.

Beverley Hughes: Oakington is a designated place of detention and may be used to house persons under any of the published detention criteria, including detention under fast track procedures.

Asylum

Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what specific actions he expects local authorities to take to protect children who are not taken into care but whose parents have had their benefits stopped as a consequence of the implementation of clause 7 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill.

Beverley Hughes: We are discussing with representatives of local authorities whether guidance on the way in which they would exercise their responsibilities under these circumstances would be helpful.

Asylum

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to change the system to record the number of asylum seekers (a) entering the UK illegally, (b) applying for asylum and (c) being detained awaiting deportation; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: There are no plans to change the system to record the number of asylum seekers (a) entering the country illegally, (b) applying for asylum and (c) being detained awaiting deportation. Information on asylum applications, detainees and removals is published quarterly. The next publication will be available at the end of February 2004 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website.

Asylum

Iain Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has to abolish the support only provision for asylum seekers; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: There are no plans to do so at present. Section 50 of the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 allows us to withdraw the opportunity for asylum seekers to apply for financial support only. During the passage of the Bill through Parliament we gave a commitment that there would be a full public consultation process before the provision was introduced. The provision is also subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.

Asylum

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements have been made for the UN High Commission for Refugees to work with Home Office training programmes to improve decision making on asylum applications; what the terms of reference are for UNHCR involvement; and when these arrangements will be brought into effect.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 13 January 2004
	The London office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees already contributes to the training of asylum caseworkers. We intend that this fruitful relationship should continue and we are presently discussing with UNHCR what further assistance they might provide in support of our measures to assure high quality decision making processes.

Asylum

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was in each of the last five years of police involvement in immigration controls.

Hazel Blears: This information is not held centrally. Local police involvement in immigration controls forms part of the arrangements made by Chief Constables in the light of police authorities' policing plans.

Asylum

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the powers under section 6 of schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 have been used.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 8 January 2004
	We have not so far withdrawn support from any family under this provision, although its availability may have helped induce a number of failed asylum seekers to depart voluntarily.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 16 October 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Miriam Adebeshin;
	(2)  when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 4 November 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Miriam Adebeshin;
	(3)  when he will reply to the letter to him dated 16 October 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Miriam Adebeshin;
	(4)  when he will reply to the letter to him dated 12 October 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Miriam Adebeshin;
	(5)  when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 16 October 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Miriam Adebeshin.

David Blunkett: I replied to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, on 12 January 2004.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when he will reply to the letter to him dated 4 November 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. John Alosine Bangura;
	(2)  when he will reply to the letter to him dated 4 November 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. John Alosine Bangura;
	(3)  when he will reply to the letter to him dated 4 November 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. John Alosine Bangura;

David Blunkett: I replied to the right hon. Member on 8 January 2004.

Crime

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what expenditure has been allocated to (a) St. Helens, (b) Merseyside and (c) the North West region to tackle crime in each year since 1992.

Hazel Blears: General grants to police authorities are unhypothecated to particular purposes and may be used as each police authority and chief officer decide, to support local policing plans. Government grant takes into account the whole range of policing activity, including tackling crime.
	It is a matter for the Chief Constable and Police Authority to decide on the distribution of resources within the force area.
	Police funding allocated to Merseyside and the North West is set out in the following tables. These figures also include specific grants agreed for particular purposes.
	
		 million
		
			  Government grant(15) 
			  Merseyside North West(16) 
		
		
			 199293(17) n/a n/a 
			 199394(17) n/a n/a 
			 199495(17) n/a n/a 
			 199596 196.92 752.65 
			 199697 203.40 789.41 
			 199798 207.64 805.79 
			 199899 213.22 834.17 
			 19992000 215.31 852.13 
			 200001 222.23 884.26 
			 200102(18) 234.24 939.82 
			 200203(18) 238.42 962.04 
			 200304 253.72 1,022.16 
		
	
	(15) Government Grant includes Home Office police grant, ODPM Revenue Support Grant and non-national domestic rates, Crime Fighting Fund, Rural Policing Grant, Basic Command Unit funding, Community Support Officer funding, DNA Expansion Programme, Street Crime Initiative and Special Priority payments.
	(16) The North West region is policed by Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside forces.
	(17) Before 199596, when most Police Authorities became independent local authorities, revenue support grant and non-national domestic rates were paid as part of respective county council grant funding.
	(18) The grant figures for 200102 and 200203 are not directly comparable, owing to changes from 200203 in the method of funding the National Crime Squad and the National Criminal Intelligence Service. These bodies became centrally rather than locally funded.
	In addition, Merseyside and the North West forces received the following funding in capital grant, including Airwave and the Premises Improvement Fund.
	
		 million
		
			  Merseyside North West Region 
		
		
			 199596 6.69 22.54 
			 199697 5.46 17.73 
			 199798 6.64 19.05 
			 199899 3.52 12.92 
			 19992000 3.13 13.46 
			 200001 3.97 17.59 
			 200102 3.94 45.46 
			 200203 14.0 36.56 
			 200304 9.52 34.96

Drug Intervention Policies

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what effect drug intervention policies have had over the last five years in reducing (a) drugs crime, (b) drugs use and (c) drugs deaths.

Caroline Flint: The Updated Drug Strategy 2002 aims to concentrate resources on the most dangerous drugs, the most damaged communities and those individuals whose addiction and chaotic lifestyles are the most harmful.
	Indicators of the effect of the strategy include:
	(a) Drug crime (including supply)
	The level of seizure of drugs and drug related assets is one indicator of the effectiveness of policies to reduce the supply of illegal drugs. Recently, over 20 million worth of cocaine was seized in one of the UK's biggest ever drugs operation, while over 37 million, suspected of being the proceeds of crime or intended for use in crime, has been recovered.
	The Government are also addressing drug related crimewhich includes high levels of acquisitive crime such as theft and burglaryby getting more offenders out of crime and into treatment. The numbers of problematic drug users entering treatment in 200203 increased by 41 per cent. to 140,900, against a baseline of 100,000 in 199899. In April 2003, the Criminal Justice Intervention Programme (CJIP) was introduced to break the link between drugs and crime and is now operating in the 25 Drug Action Team areas with the highest level of acquisitive crime. It will be extended to a further 22 DATs in 200405.
	(b) Drug use
	Data from the British Crime Survey (2003) demonstrate reductions in overall levels of drug use. For Young People (16 to 24-year-olds):
	Reported use of Class A drugs in the last year has remained stable since 1996. Around 8 per cent. of young people had used a Class A drug in the last year;
	Since 1998, those individuals reporting use of any illicit drug in the last year decreased from 31.8 per cent. to 28.1 per cent.;
	Large decreases have been seen in the use of amphetamines (9.9 per cent. to 3.7 per cent.) and hallucinogens (5.3 per cent. to 2.0 per cent.) in the last year since 1998. However the number of individuals reporting cocaine use in the last year has increased from 3.1 per cent. in 1998 to 4.7 per cent. in 200203; and
	Among young people cannabis use has remained stable since 1998. In 200203 25.8 per cent. said that they had used it in the last year.
	For 16 to 59-year-olds:
	Since 1998, those reporting use of any illicit drug in the last year has remained stable at approximately 12 per cent. in 200203, while those individuals reporting use of Class A drugs in the last year has slightly increased (2.7 per cent. to 3.3 per cent.);
	Since 1998, there have been increases in last year use of cocaine (1.2 per cent. to 2.1 per cent.), crack (0.1 per cent. to 0.2 per cent.) and ecstasy (1.5 per cent. to 2.0 per cent.), although decreases in reported use of amphetamines (3.0 per cent. to 1.6 per cent.) during this period; and
	Among 16 to 59-year-olds cannabis use has remained stable since 1998. In 200203 10.9 per cent. said that they had used it in the last year.
	(c) Drug deaths
	Department of Health figures for England and Wales indicate that there was a steady increase in the number of drug related deaths between 1993 and 2000, when 1,662 drug related deaths were recorded. In 2001 the number of drug related deaths decreased to 1,623.
	The Government produced The Action Plan to Prevent Drug-Related Deaths in 2001. The implementation of this action plan is expected to make a vital contribution to reducing drug-related deaths.

Eurostar Terminal (Ashford)

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the staffing levels were at the Immigration and Customs posts at the Eurostar Terminal in Ashford on Friday 28 November between 18.00 and 00.00.

Beverley Hughes: The immigration office at the Ashford Eurostar Terminal is normally staffed from 0700 hrs. until 2300 hrs. by immigration officers based at Cheriton.
	On the evening of Friday 28 November, the immigration control was staffed as normal until 23:00 hrs. At least one officer was in attendance during the whole of that period. Officers do not control arrivals that have been cleared either at the juxtaposed controls in Paris, or that have been cleared on board. All cleared trains are notified to the office in advance. Only one train that evening had been cleared prior to arrival in Ashford.
	Customs regularly deploy anti-smuggling teams to Ashford on a risk-assessed basis. They also participate in occasional joint exercises with other Control authorities such as the Immigration Service and the British Transport police. However on the 28 November there were no customs officers in attendance at Ashford due to a special exercise taking place at Waterloo International Terminal.

Eurostar Terminal (Ashford)

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Immigration and Customs posts at the Eurostar Rail Terminal in Ashford are staffed at all times; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The immigration office at the Ashford Eurostar Terminal is normally staffed from 0700 hours until 2300 hours by immigration officers based at Cheriton.
	Officers are scheduled to attend for all Eurostar arrivals which have not been pre-cleared. Immigration officers do not control arrivals that have been fully cleared either at the juxtaposed controls in Paris, or on board. All cleared trains are notified to the office in advance.
	Customs deploy anti-smuggling teams to Ashford on a risk-assessed basis. They also participate in occasional joint exercises with other Control authorities such as the Immigration Service and British Transport police.

Gurkhas

Ann Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the findings of the Review on Immigration Law in relation to Gurkhas will be published.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 12 January 2004
	The internal review of our immigration policy in respect of Gurkhas serving in the British Army will be completed shortly and a report presented to Ministers. Once agreement has been reached on the way forward, I will write to my right hon. Member.

Health Worker Work Permits

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work permits have been granted since January to health workers by each Government office region; and from which countries they have come.

Beverley Hughes: In the first nine months of 2003, 33,057 work permits were approved for posts in the healthcare sector. This figure includes initial approvals and approvals of applications to extend and to change existing work permits.
	The table breaks this figure down by the nationality of the healthcare worker for whom the work permit was issued.
	
		
			 Nationality Approvals for health workers 
		
		
			 Philippines 8,749 
			 India 7,367 
			 South Africa 4,423 
			 Zimbabwe 2,050 
			 Nigeria 1,128 
			 Australia 1,033 
			 Peoples Republic of China 733 
			 Pakistan 723 
			 Ghana 653 
			 Bulgaria 532 
			 Others 5,666 
		
	
	Work Permits (UK) is unable to provide data broken down by Government Office region.

Illegal Guns

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) air weapons, (b) rifles, (c) shotguns, (d) imitation firearms and (e) handguns have been stolen in each of the last five years.

Caroline Flint: The information requested has been published in Table 2.11 of 'Crime in England and Wales 200102: Supplementary Volume', which is available in the Library.

Immigration

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for indefinite leave to remain were submitted in 2002 by those who had previously been granted exceptional leave to remain; and how many were (a) granted and (b) refused, broken down by nationality.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 4 December 2003
	The latest available statistics are given in the table.
	The information relates to grants of indefinite leave to remain (settlement) to those who had previously been granted exceptional leave to remain.
	Information on the number of applications submitted or the number of such application refused are not currently available.
	
		Persons given exceptional leave to remain, granted settlement(19), by main nationality, 2000
		
			  Number of persons 
		
		
			  
			  
			 Bulgaria 5 
			 Cyprus 5 
			 Romania 5 
			 Turkey 75 
			 Russia 10 
			 Ukraine 5 
			 Other former USSR 5 
			 Serbia and Montenegro 120 
			 Croatia 35 
			 Other former Yugoslavia 415 
			 Other Europe 5 
			 Europe 685 
			   
			 Colombia 40 
			 Other Americas 10 
			 Americas 50 
			   
			 Algeria 20 
			 Angola 150 
			 Congo (Dem. Rep.) 215 
			 Egypt 5 
			 Ethiopia 95 
			 Ghana 30 
			 Kenya 20 
			 Libya 10 
			 Morocco 5 
			 Nigeria 40 
			 Sierra Leone 45 
			 Somalia 2,720 
			 Sudan 20 
			 Tanzania 10 
			 Uganda 160 
			 Other Africa 275 
			 Africa 3,810 
			   
			 Bangladesh * 
			   
			 India 20 
			 Pakistan 75 
			 Indian sub-continent 95 
			   
			 Iran 140 
			 Iraq 335 
			 Kuwait 15 
			 Lebanon 85 
			 Yemen 5 
			 Other Middle East 20 
			   
			 Middle East 600 
			 Afghanistan 1,890 
			 China 15 
			 Sri Lanka 90 
			 Hong Kong 5 
			 Other Asia 5 
			 Remainder of Asia 2,005 
			   
			 Other and Stateless 30 
			 All nationalities 7,280 
		
	
	(19) Excludes those previously given exceptional leave to remain who are granted settlement on other grounds; also excludes dependants.
	Note:
	Data rounded to the nearest 5 with * = 1 or 2

18 Plus

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding his Department and its executive agencies have provided to the 18 Plus organisation since 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: Neither the Home Department, nor its executive agencies, have any records of funding the 18 Plus organisation since 1997.

Inward Visitors

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people visited the United Kingdom from (a) Poland, (b) Australia and (c) New Zealand in the latest year for which figures are available.

Beverley Hughes: The latest available information is given in the table.
	
		Passengers given leave to enter the United Kingdom as visitors, by nationality, 2002
		
			  Total Ordinary visitor Business visitor 
		
		
			 Poland 206,000 147,000 59,400 
			 Australia 453,000 395,000 57,900 
			 New Zealand 116,000 103,000 12,800 
		
	
	Note:
	The figures in this table have been rounded to three significant digits; because of this the sum of the constituent items may not agree with the total as shown.
	The information is available in the Command Paper 'Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2002' (Cm 6053), obtainable from the House Library, The Stationery Office and via the Home Office website http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/hobpubs1.html.

Murders (London)

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many murders were committed in the areas covered by the (a) Metropolitan and (b) City of London police forces in 2003.

Hazel Blears: The requested information is not available centrally.

New Citizens

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the development of the programme for (a) welcoming new UK citizens and (b) improving their competence in the English language.

Beverley Hughes: Becoming a UK citizen is an important step and we want to welcome new citizens with the right balance of solemnity and celebration. We hope that the introduction of citizenship ceremonies this year will help those who settle here to gain a fuller appreciation of the civic and political dimensions of British citizenship, to play an active role in society and to feel a greater sense of belonging to the wider UK community.
	The 'Life in the UK' Advisory Group, which we appointed to look at the content, conduct and implementation of programmes of study for new citizens, published its final report on 3 September. The report made a number of recommendations concerning the provision of language programmes, both for naturalisation applicants and for new migrants. We are working with the Departments for Education and Skills and for Work and Pensions to assess the implications of these recommendations.
	As we said when the report was published, we welcome the broad thrust of these proposals and are now looking at the best way of taking them forward; we intend to announce our conclusions shortly.

People Trafficking

Michael Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the harmonisation of legislation and penalties for people trafficking.

Beverley Hughes: The United Kingdom was closely involved in the drafting of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons which supplements the United Nations Convention against Trans-National Organised Crime. This requires countries which are signatories to adopt legislation to establish trafficking in persons as a criminal offence. The UK was also fully involved in discussions on the subsequent EU Council Framework Decision on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. This requires all member states to ensure that trafficking for the purposes of labour exploitation or any form of sexual exploitation are punishable by terms of imprisonment with a maximum penalty that is not less than eight years.
	We have acted quickly to deal with the worst forms of exploitation by creating an offence of trafficking for the purposes of controlling someone in prostitution within the Nationality, Immigration, and Asylum Act 2002, carrying a maximum penalty of 14 years. More comprehensive offences concerning trafficking into, within or out of the UK for the purposes of sexual exploitation are included in the Sexual Offences Act 2003, these also carry a maximum sentence of 14 years.
	A new offence covering trafficking for forced labour and removal of organs is included in the Asylum and Immigration Bill, which is currently before Parliament. Once this offence is in force the UK will be able to ratify the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons.

People Trafficking

Michael Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what measures he is taking to protect victims of people trafficking who come forward to the relevant authorities; and what measures are available to allow the grant of an appropriate legal status to such people to enable their rehabilitation and integration into UK society;
	(2)  what plans he has for an information campaign to encourage the victims of people trafficking to come forward.

Beverley Hughes: The White Paper Secure Borders, Safe Haven: integration with diversity within modern Britainpublished in February 2002sets out our general proposals for assisting the victims of human trafficking. In particular a commitment was made that
	. . . where such people (victims of trafficking) are willing to come forward to the authorities, we shall make special arrangements for their protection.
	We are committed to helping the victims of human trafficking. On 10 March 2003, we launched a pilot scheme under which, adult female victims of trafficking for purpose of sexual exploitation, who are willing to come forward to the authorities and help law enforcement against organised criminals are offered protection and a range of support services, such as counselling and health checks in safe accommodation managed by a voluntary sector organisation.
	The pilot scheme ended on 31 December, and in its place we have established the protection and support as a service stream of support to victims until the end of the financial year 200405. Although limited, the service will meet the current identified needs in the London area of adult women trafficked into the UK for purposes of sexual exploitation.
	Through the pilot scheme in partnership with a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) we have developed a communication strategy that is to be launched early in March. It is multi-dimensional and aimed specifically at three target audiencesincreasing general public awareness, potential victim awareness and reaching trafficked women who have not been identified. We are developing a range of approaches including posters, networking with agencies (Health, Social Care and Housing providers), multi-disciplinary training and media profiling.
	The communication strategy will be run as part of the service providing accommodation and support to victims in the London area. We will consider its impact and potential for a wider campaign as part of the evaluation of the scheme.
	We will continue to consider victims' legal status on a case by case basis. We acknowledge that, if they do co-operate with the authorities, they may risk reprisals against themselves or their families' abroad. We will consider, in the light of individual circumstances, whether it would be appropriate to allow them to remain here. But if they are not entitled to remain, and it is not appropriate to let them stay, then they must be returned to their country wherever possible. To do otherwise would undermine our immigration law.

People Trafficking

Michael Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts about tackling the cause of people trafficking through (a) socio-economic co-operation and (b) training packages for police and government officials in (i) transit countries and (ii) the countries of origin of those trafficked.

Beverley Hughes: The United Kingdom was closely involved in the drafting of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons which supplements the United Nations Convention against Trans-National Organised Crime. Article 9 of this refers to the need for social and economic initiatives, and Article 10 encourages the provision of training for law enforcement or other relevant officials. There have been a number of subsequent discussions at EU level to encourage the ratification of the UN Protocol. These have recognised that an effective strategy to combat human trafficking must include both preventative action to tackle the causes of trafficking, and training and capacity building in source and transit countries.
	The UK is also contributing to, and has been involved in discussion about, the European Commission five-year (200307) AGIS funding programme. This will provide funding for projects in the field of police and judicial co-operation, focusing on combating organised crime, including organised immigration crime, and encouraging co-operation between law enforcement agencies. This funding provides an opportunity for member states to work together, or with new or candidate member states, to share expertise.
	Funding under the EU Phare scheme is also available to member states for projects involving training for police personnel on organised crime. On 1 August 2003 the UK successfully bid for an 18-month twinning project in the Czech Republic, under this programme. The overarching aims of this project are to strengthen the fight and preventive measures against illegal trafficking and organised prostitution, to reduce the number of persons trafficked in the Czech Republic and to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement bodies to combat trafficking.
	Tackling human trafficking in source and transit countries is an important element of the UK's strategy and alongside building on bilateral law enforcement to this end, the UK has provided funding for projects aiming to raise awareness and prevent trafficking.

People Trafficking

Michael Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many convictions for people trafficking there have been in the UK in the last 30 years; and whether in each case the victims were (a) illegal immigrants intended for the sex trade or (b) babies or children to be sold on for adoption;
	(2)  how many people have been convicted under section 145 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002; and what sentences those convicted under this law have received;
	(3)  how many people traffickers have been convicted in the UK under laws other than the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 in the last decade.

Beverley Hughes: The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 received Royal Assent in November 2002, and sections 145 and 146, which cover trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation, came into force on 10 February 2003. Data on numbers of prosecutions under these sections will be collected and published in due course. Given that the powers came into effect very recently, there is not any information yet held centrally about numbers of prosecutions. Statistics of court proceedings for 2003 will be published in the autumn of 2004. The maximum sentence for this offence will be 14 years.
	Prior to the introduction of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act, there was no specific offence under which people traffickers could be prosecuted. In 2000, the Government established a multi-agency taskforce called Reflex, to co-ordinate the UK's operational response to organised immigration crime. Under Reflex, a number of organised crime gangs involved in the smuggling or trafficking of people have been disrupted. Traffickers have been prosecuted for associated offences, for example, facilitation of illegal entry or living off immoral earnings, where trafficking has been for the purposes of prostitution. However, comprehensive figures are not currently available centrally on the numbers of convictions for associated offences which relate to trafficking. It is therefore not possible to give figures relating to convictions for people traffickers for the last 30 years or provide a breakdown of data relating to victims in cases of trafficking.

Police

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for regional police forces in England and Wales.

Hazel Blears: A major consultation exercise on the future direction of police reform was launched on 4 November with the publication of Policing: Building Safer Communities Together. Among other things this paper opens the debate on whether the current 43 force structure in England and Wales is the right one for today's and tomorrow's policing needs. A copy of the paper is in the Library.
	We are clear that any structural change will need to deliver improvements in police performance and delivery of service.

Rape

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  which police forces use (a) the Early Evidence Kit produced by the Forensic Science Service and (b) the Tetra modules for the early securing of samples in complaints of rape and drug rape; and which use neither;
	(2)  what instruction his Department gives to police forces about the use of test kits to secure samples in the event of an allegation of (a) rape or (b) drug rape.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 12 January 2004
	The Forensic Science Service (FSS) have supplied Early Evidence (K106) kits to a total of 30 forces, with 22 of these having ordered more than once. Regular users of the K106 include Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, the Metropolitan Police Service, Northumbria, Staffordshire, Suffolk and Warwickshire. FSS have received new interest and preliminary orders for Hampshire, Kent, Merseyside, North Wales, Surrey and Thames Valley Police.
	The Home Office does not hold information on the use of Tetra modules by police forces.
	Instruction on collecting evidence and how to conduct investigations is a matter for individual Chief Officers of police.

Romanies

Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Romanies from East Europe have sought access to the UK in the past three years; and how many have been admitted.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 12 January 2004
	It is not possible to say how many persons of Roma origin have sought access and have been admitted to the United Kingdom. Data on the ethnic origin of those entering the United Kingdom are not collated and are therefore not available.

Arrest Statistics

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many people were arrested by police forces in Scotland in respect of offences committed in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many people were arrested by police forces in (a) England and (b) Wales in respect of offences committed in Scotland in each of the last five years.

Hazel Blears: Information on arrests collected centrally by my Department is based on persons arrested for 'notifiable' offences by police forces in England and Wales only. The information does not identify the location of where an offence was committed.
	Information for Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive.

Street Crime

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research has been carried out by his Department into the dispersal of crime from areas targeted by the street crime initiative into outlying areas not covered.

Hazel Blears: There has been no research into the disbursement of crime from areas targeted by the street crime initiative into outlying areas not covered by the initiative. The street crime initiative focuses on those areas which account for the great majority of street crime. In these areas, robbery fell by 17 per cent. in 200203. Across England and Wales in the same period, recorded robbery fell by 11 per cent. (14 per cent. adjusted for the National Crime Recording Standard).

Terrorism Act

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times the police have used powers under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000; how many individuals this involved; and if he will make a statement.

David Blunkett: Figures on stops and searches under section 44(1) and section 44(2) of the Terrorism Act 2000 are published annually in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin.
	During the financial year 200102, police conducted a total of 9,239 stops and searches under section 44(1) of the Act and 947 stops and searches under section 44(2). During the financial year 200203, police conducted a total of 27,313 stops and searches under section 44(1) of the Act and 4,774 stops and searches under section 44(2). Figures for 200304 will be published when the relevant data has been collated and verified.
	The above data relates to the number of times police exercised powers under section 44 of the Act. Information on the number of individuals involved is not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Visas

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to change the number of countries (a) on the white list and (b) for which a visa to enter the United Kingdom is required; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The list of 24 countries designated under section 94 of the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 can only be added to by Affirmative Order following debate in both Houses of Parliament. The list is kept under review and we will make proposals to amend it when we consider it to be appropriate. We have no plans at this time to amend existing visa requirements, although all such requirements are kept under review.

Women Prisoners

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the number of women held in custody in British prisons.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 11 December 2003
	The number of women held in custody in Prison Service Establishments in England and Wales, as at 14 January 2004 was 4,283.
	Information relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for Ministers in the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Office.

Zimbabwe

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what his policy is on returning to Zimbabwe people from that country who have made an unsuccessful claim for asylum in the United Kingdom;
	(2)  what his policy is on granting exceptional leave to remain to Zimbabwean nationals who claim asylum in the United Kingdom.

Beverley Hughes: The Government's position is, as it has been since January 2002, that each asylum (and human rights) claim made by a Zimbabwean national will be considered on its individual merits in accordance with our obligations under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Each application is considered against the background of the latest available country information including that obtained from and through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
	The suspension of removals of failed asylum seekers to Zimbabwe announced in January 2002 was in response to concerns about the serious deterioration in the situation in Zimbabwe in the build up to the Presidential election held in March that year. We did not regard it as unsafe to return failed asylum seekers to Zimbabwe, but in view of the rapidly changing conditions we considered that it would be appropriate
	not to enforce returns.
	We do of course recognise that conditions in Zimbabwe are such that there are individuals who are able to demonstrate a need for international protection. Where they meet the definition of a refugee in the 1951 Convention, asylum is granted. There may also be individuals whose circumstances make them particularly vulnerable and who would engage our obligations under the ECHR. Where this is the case these individuals will be granted Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary Leave.
	In the first nine months of this year we have granted asylum to 755 Zimbabweans and granted other forms of protection, including Humanitarian Protection, Discretionary leave (and their predecessor, exceptional leave to remain), to over 25 others. These statistics show that we are giving protection to the significant number of people who are found to be in need of it.
	If an application is refused, there will be a right of appeal to the independent appellate authorities against that decision. Should a claim be refused and any appeal be unsuccessful that means that, for that individual, return to Zimbabwe would be safe. That is why we consider it reasonable to expect an individual in that position to leave voluntarily.
	Although it would be safe to return failed asylum seekers to Zimbabwe, our view at present is that in the wider context of the Government's position on Zimbabwe, it would be inappropriate forcibly to return them at this time.
	The policy remains under continuous review.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Funding of Schools Programme

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the basis was for his decision on how funding under the funding of schools programme should be allocated; and if he will make a statement on the impact of that decision on Nottingham, North.

David Miliband: We will announce shortly the local authority projects in wave 1 of Building Schools for the Future. We published our criteria for prioritisation in July 2003, and I have placed a copy of this guidance in the House of Commons Library.
	Secondary education in every part of England should have facilities of 21st Century standard, and we are committed to deliver this goal within 10 to 15 years from 200506, subject to future public spending decisions.

Physics Graduates

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students graduated with degrees in physics in (a) 1997 and (b) 2003.

Alan Johnson: The number of students obtaining degrees in physics was 2,440 in 1997 and 2,205 in 2003.

LEA Expenditure

James Plaskitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on exempting local education authorities from limitations on their central expenditure.

David Miliband: We have made clear that our priority for school funding in 200405 is getting money into schools' own delegated budgets. That is why a statutory limit on increases in central spend within education authorities' overall Schools Budgets is an important feature of the arrangements which my right hon. Friend announced on 29 October. We recognise however that some authorities, in exceptional circumstances, may have difficulty in complying with the national limit, and there is a process by which they may seek approval for a higher limit.

Early Years Education

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress he has made with his policy on early years education; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: Before 1997, whether or not your child could get a nursery place depended entirely on where you lived. By April 2004, six months ahead of target, every three and four-year-old child will enjoy a free part-time nursery education place as of right. That is the difference the Labour Government makes to children's opportunities.
	By introducing the warmly received Foundation Stage for children in their early years together with the registration and inspection of all settings by Ofsted, we are ensuring high quality nursery education for all our children.
	We are now starting to develop Children's Centres which combine early education with full day care, health and family support. 61 Children's Centres have been approved and the Chancellor recently announced in his pre-Budget review that we will create 1,000 Children's Centres by 2008.

Primary School Teachers

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many primary school teachers were on permanent contracts in London in September (a) 1997, (b) 2000, (c) 2001 and (d) 2003; and how many unfilled vacancies there were in each of these months.

Stephen Twigg: The information is not available in this form. In the London Government Office Region, there were 28,860 full-time equivalent regular teachers in maintained nursery and primary schools at January 1997; 28,870 at January 2000; 29,190 at January 2001; and 29,760 at January 2003. There were 450 unfilled nursery and primary teacher vacancies at January 1997; 520 at January 2000; 820 at January 2001; and 410 at January 2003.

Capital Funding (East Midlands)

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received concerning targeted capital funding in the east midlands.

David Miliband: We have received two letters supporting targeted capital fund bids in the east midlands. Although authorities in your region were not very successful in last year's round, the Department has worked closely with east midland authorities since then to try to ensure that they have a better understanding of the bidding process and assessment criteria. We aim to announce successful projects shortly.

Deaf Children

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department has taken to ensure access to the full school curriculum for all deaf children; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: All maintained schoolsmainstream and specialare required to provide the full national curriculum and to ensure that all deaf children have access to it, other than where it has been disapplied.

Variable Fees

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he plans that the cap on variable fees will stay at 3,000 until 2014.

Alan Johnson: I have already given my assurance that the fee cap will stay at 3,000 in real terms for the life of the next Parliament and I confirm that once more. Beyond that, any increase which is above the rate of inflation will, under the terms of the legislation, need to be approved by affirmative resolution which would require the consent of both Houses. I recognise that there are none the less concerns about the impact of variable fees on the university system: the Government will therefore establish an independent review, working with the Office for Fair Access, to report to the House, based on the first three years of their operation.

Adult Learning Grant

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department is taking to promote the take up of the Adult Learning Grant.

Ivan Lewis: We are working with the Learning and Skills Council, further education providers and other partners to promote the Adult Learning Grant. The main focus of the 10 pilots is on promoting the grant to new learners starting courses during January 2004 and to existing learners who may be eligible but have not applied. This involves a variety of methods including posters, college prospectuses, advertising in the local press, on bus shelters and on local radio, and mail shots targeted at specific audiences. Over 2,600 people have applied for the grant.

Adoption

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average time taken to complete an adoption placement was, broken down by local authority area, for the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Margaret Hodge: The attached table shows the average time in days between the local authority's decision that it is in a child's best interest to be adopted and the date of adoption, for looked after children adopted in England during the year ending 31 March 2002. A copy of the table has been placed in the Library.

Broadband

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans his Department has to assist in making broadband available to an educational institution available to the wider community.

Charles Clarke: My Department recognises the potential benefits to the community in schools being connected to broadband and making access to their ICT infrastructure more widely available. The 10 Regional Broadband Consortia for England are working with their member LEAs and schools in their area to develop this network accessibility.
	The cross-government Broadband Aggregation Project, announced by e-Commerce Minister Stephen Timms in July last year, is also addressing the issues involved in using schools as broadband hubs for the wider community. Although there are some instances already where schools are extending access to the community, there are a number of issues to consider and resolve before defining the way forward in this area.
	In terms of access to ICT more broadly, the Department's Extended Schools and School Community Links Team are developing guidance to assist schools in offering a range of ICT facilities to their communities. This guidance is expected to be available by the end of March 2004.

Children Green Paper

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills at what stage under the proposals in the Children Green Paper children will be given a unique identification number with corresponding data file.

Margaret Hodge: A Bill designed to improve services which protected children was announced in the Queens speech will be introduced to improve services designed to protect children. Subject to the outcome of consultation on the Children's Green Paper Every Child Matters, the Bill will include proposals for local information sharing systems to enable practitioners to share early information about children and young people where appropriate. Implementation of the proposed local systems will require the development of a basic dataset on all children in an area together with a unique identifying number. This would apply from birth or if a child moves areas still has the same number. Only when a child comes into the country will she/he have to be allocated a number.

Civil Servants (Disabilities)

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made in meeting targets for the proportion of people with disabilities in senior posts in his Department.

Charles Clarke: My Department's target is that by 2005, 3 per cent. of those in the senior civil service should be people with disabilities.
	Statistical information about senior civil servants with disabilities is available on the Civil Service Statistics web-site at: http://www.civil-service.gov.uk/ statistics/documents/pdf/disability-octOS.pdf. This shows that as of 1 April 2003, the proportion of senior civil servants with declared disabilities is 2.3 per cent.
	As there are less than five members of the senior civil service in my Department with a declared disability, the actual number is not published in order to protect the privacy of the individual in line with exemption 12 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Specialist College Status

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools applied in the latest round for engineering specialist status; how many were successful; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: holding answer 8 January 2004
	17 schools applied for the engineering specialism in the last round of applications for specialist college status, which closed on 17 October 2003. Assessment of the 393 applications received is continuing and an announcement will be made in approximately one month.

Education (Financial Support)

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list for each local education authority the financial support for education that remains to be transferred under the changes to local government funding announced last year; and when he expects this process to be completed.

David Miliband: The Government introduced a new funding formula for local authorities in 200304. Floors and ceilings have been used on both the calculation of education Formula Spending Shares and Revenue Support Grant to phase in the new formula. This means that some authorities receive funding allocations above the level of the new formula and some receive funding allocations below the level of the new formula. The Government expect floors and ceilings to continue for as long as they are necessary. We have also said that we expect the Schools Formula Spending Share floor to be at least 5 per cent. per pupil in 200506.
	The amount of damping through floors and ceilings on the Education Formula Spending Share for each local education authority is shown as follows:
	
		
			  Schools formula spending share LEA formula spending share Total 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 1.0 (0.1) 0.9 
			 Barnet (0.2) (0.3) (0.5) 
			 Barnsley 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Bedfordshire 0.6 0.0 0.6 
			 Bexley 3.2 0.1 3.3 
			 Birmingham (16.5) (3.0) (19.4) 
			 Blackburn (0.5) (0.1) (0.5) 
			 Blackpool 0.0 (0.0) (0.0) 
			 Bolton (3.8) (0.6) (4.4) 
			 Bournemouth 0.2 0.1 0.3 
			 Bracknell Forest 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Bradford (9.6) (1.5) (11.0) 
			 Brent 0.0 (0.4) (0.4) 
			 Brighton and Hove 6.6 0.8 7.4 
			 Bromley 7.7 0.2 7.9 
			 Buckinghamshire 0.0 (0.1) (0.1) 
			 Bury 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Calderdale 0.0 (0.1) (0.1) 
			 Cambridgeshire (0.1) (0.4) (0.5) 
			 Camden 0.9 (0.1) 0.8 
			 Cheshire 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 City of Bristol (2.9) (0.2) (3.2) 
			 City of Kingston-upon-Hull 0.0 0.1 0.1 
			 City of London (0.3) (0.2) (0.5) 
			 Cornwall 0.0 (0.0) (0.0) 
			 Coventry (0.8) 0.0 (0.8) 
			 Croydon 1.2 0.2 1.4 
			 Cumbria (0.2) 0.0 (0.2) 
			 Darlington 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Derby 0.0 (0.0) (0.0) 
			 Derbyshire 0.0 0.9 0.9 
			 Devon 0.0 (0.1) (0.1) 
			 Doncaster 0.0 0.1 0.1 
			 Dorset 0.0 (0.3) (0.3) 
			 Dudley (4.0) (0.6) (4.6) 
			 Durham 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Haling (2.2) (0.5) (2.7) 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 0.0 (0.2) (0.2) 
			 East Sussex 12.8 1.5 14.2 
			 Enfield 4.5 0.0 4.5 
			 Essex 38.7 4.6 43.3 
			 Gateshead 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Gloucestershire 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Greenwich (0.8) (0.1) (0.9) 
			 Hackney (2.0) (0.7) (2.8) 
			 Halton 0.0 0.1 0.1 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1.1 (0.2) 0.9 
			 Hampshire 16.5 2.4 18.9 
			 Haringey 2.7 (0.2) 2.5 
			 Harrow (0.1) (0.1) (0.2) 
			 Hartlepool (0.6) (0.1) (0.7) 
			 Havering 4.4 0.3 4.7 
			 Herefordshire 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Hertfordshire 6.6 0.9 7.5 
			 Hillingdon (0.7) (0.5) (1.1) 
			 Hounslow 0.0 (0.1) (0.1) 
			 Isle of Wight Council 0.6 0.1 0.7 
			 Isles of Scilly (0.1) (0.0) (0.1) 
			 Islington (0.5) (0.2) (0.7) 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 4.1 0.3 4.4 
			 Kent 33.1 3.6 36.6 
			 Kingston upon Thames (0.3) (0.1) (0.4) 
			 Kirklees (0.4) (0.1) (0.4) 
			 Knowsley 0.4 0.3 0.7 
			 Lambeth 0.4 (0.2) 0.2 
			 Lancashire 0.0 1.5 1.5 
			 Leeds 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Leicester 0.0 (0.1) (0.1) 
			 Leicestershire 0.8 0.0 0.8 
			 Lewisham 0.0 0.1 0.1 
			 Lincolnshire 0.0 (0.5) (0.5) 
			 Liverpool 0.0 0.4 0.4 
			 Luton 0.0 (0.1) (0.1) 
			 Manchester 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Medway 4.0 0.4 4.4 
			 Merton (0.7) (0.2) (1.0) 
			 Middlesbrough (1.6) 0.4 (1.2) 
			 Milton Keynes 0.0 (0.3) (0.3) 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 0.0 0.6 0.6 
			 Newham 0.0 (0.1) (0.1) 
			 Norfolk 0.9 0.0 0.9 
			 North East Lincolnshire 0.0 0.1 0.1 
			 North Lincolnshire 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 North Somerset 0.0 (0.2) (0.2) 
			 North Tyneside 0.0 (0.0) (0.0) 
			 North Yorkshire 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Northamptonshire 0.0 (0.2) (0.2) 
			 Northumberland (0.2) 0.0 (0.2) 
			 Nottingham City (2.3) (0.6) (2.9) 
			 Nottinghamshire 0.0 0.5 0.5 
			 Oldham (4.0) (0.4) (4.4) 
			 Oxfordshire 0.4 (0.3) 0.1 
			 Peterborough (0.1) (0.1) (0.2) 
			 Plymouth 0.0 0.2 0.2 
			 Poole 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Portsmouth 1.5 0.4 1.8 
			 Reading (1.9) (0.2) (2.2) 
			 Redbridge 0.0 (0.1) (0.1) 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 0.0 0.1 0.1 
			 Richmond upon Thames 0.0 (0.0) (0.0) 
			 Rochdale (1.6) (0.0) (1.6) 
			 Rotherham 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Rutland (0.3) (0.1) (0.4) 
			 Salford 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Sandwell (6.7) (1.0) (7.8) 
			 Sefton 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Sheffield 0.0 (0.1) (0.1) 
			 Shropshire 0.0 (0.0) (0.0) 
			 Slough 0.1 (0.0) 0.1 
			 Solihull 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Somerset 0.5 0.0 0.5 
			 South Gloucestershire 0.0 (0.1) (0.1) 
			 South Tyneside (0.1) 0.0 (0.1) 
			 Southampton 2.8 0.2 3.1 
			 Southend 4.4 0.5 4.9 
			 Southwark (0.2) (1.4) (1.6) 
			 St. Helens 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Staffordshire 0.0 (0.1) (0.1) 
			 Stockport 0.0 0.1 0.1 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Stoke on Trent (0.8) (0.2) (1.1) 
			 Suffolk 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Sunderland 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Surrey 0.0 (0.4) (0.4) 
			 Sutton 1.5 (0.0) 1.5 
			 Swindon 0.0 0.8 0.8 
			 Tameside 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 The Wrekin 0.0 (0.0) (0.0) 
			 Thurrock 3.1 0.2 3.3 
			 Torbay 0.0 (0.1) (0.1) 
			 Tower Hamlets (7.4) (1.6) (9.0) 
			 Trafford 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Wakefield (1.3) (0.0) (1.3) 
			 Walsall (7.7) (1.0) (8.7) 
			 Waltham Forest 2.9 0.1 3.0 
			 Wandsworth 0.0 (1.5) (1.5) 
			 Warrington 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Warwickshire (0.4) (0.0) (0.5) 
			 West Berkshire (1.2) (0.2) (1.4) 
			 West Sussex 12.2 1.1 13.3 
			 Westminster 0.0 (0.7) (0.7) 
			 Wigan 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Wiltshire 0.0 (0.4) (0.4) 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 0.0 (0.1) (0.1) 
			 Wirral 0.0 0.2 0.2 
			 Wokingham (1.3) (0.2) (1.5) 
			 Wolverhampton (4.3) (0.2) (4.5) 
			 Worcestershire 0.0 (0.3) (0.3) 
			 York 0.0 0.0 0.0

Education (North-west)

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much spending there was on (a) education as a whole, (b) nursery schools, (c) primary education and (d) secondary education in (i) St. Helens, (ii) Merseyside and (iii) the north west region, in each year since 1992.

David Miliband: The information requested is contained in the following table.
	
		Education spending since 1992
		
			  Pre-primary Primary Pre-primary and Primary(20) Secondary Education as a Whole(21) 
		
		
			 St. Helens. 
			 199293 (22) (22) 28,898 35,041 102,426 
			 199394 (22) (22) 30,627 32,779 85,062 
			 199495 (22) (22) 32,871 32,844 85,310 
			 199596 (22) (22) 30,956 30,296 77,700 
			 199697 (22) (22) 32,117 29,771 78,556 
			 199798 (22) (22) 32,702 29,885 78,961 
			 199899 (22) (22) 35,645 32,198 84,024 
			 199900 1,084 36,540 37,623 34,488 85,584 
			 200001 1,831 40,133 41,965 37,845 91,093 
			 200102 2,411 43,486 45,897 42,519 99,637 
			   
			 Merseyside 
			 199293 (22) (22) 241,358 257,792 761,742 
			 199394 (22) (22) 248,440 245,652 675,489 
			 199495 (22) (22) 262,010 250,141 681,582 
			 199596 (22) (22) 258,121 229,249 634,928 
			 199697 (22) (22) 262,052 228,950 636,955 
			 199798 (22) (22) 261,716 228,303 633,227 
			 199899 (22) (22) 283,225 245,987 668,422 
			 199900 8,562 295,022 303,584 285,872 706,519 
			 200001 14,988 325,021 340,009 326,085 772,295 
			 200102 21,048 350,485 371,533 365,721 838,990 
			   
			 North West 
			 199293 (22) (22) 1,144,841 1,153,066 3,503,836 
			 199394 (22) (22) 1,158,010 1,049,978 3,056,288 
			 199495 (22) (22) 1,202,426 1,089,653 3,075,507 
			 199596 (22) (22) 1,185,076 1,000,413 2,826,562 
			 199697 (22) (22) 1,213,943 1,018,336 2,865,849 
			 199798 (22) (22) 1,221,486 1,027,733 2,887,946 
			 199899 (22) (22) 1,321,152 1,089,898 3,045,955 
			 199900 46,199 1,394,850 1,441,049 1,286,311 3,229,306 
			 200001 67,355 1,522,508 1,589,863 1,407,303 3,455,557 
			 200102 91,379 1,676,685 1,768,064 1,588,239 3,798,289 
		
	
	(20) Expenditure was not distinguished between pre-primary and primary sectors until the inception of the Section 52 outturn statement in 19992000.
	(21) Education as a whole includes expenditure on all phases of school education (including pre-primary), education out of school, continuing education and management and support.
	(22) n/a
	Notes:
	1. Net current expenditure includes expenditure within schools and also that incurred centrally by the LEAs.
	2. Figures are in cash terms and rounded to the nearest 1,000.
	3. The decrease in local authority expenditure on education from 199394 reflects the transfer of responsibility for providing most kinds of further education from local education authorities to the Further Education Funding Council on 1 April 1993.
	4. Financial data is drawn from the DfES Section 52 outturn statements from 19992000 onwards and the ODPM's RO1 statement previously.
	5. Nursery education was not shown separately until 19992000, therefore figures for nursery are included within pre-primary and primary.
	6. Figures are as reported by LEAs.

Education Spending Formula

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list for each local education authority the education formula spending share (a) before and (b) after the impact of floors and ceilings for 200405.

David Miliband: The following table provides the education formula spending share for each authority before and after the schools formula spending share floor and ceiling of 5 per cent. per pupil and 6.8 per cent. per pupil are applied and the LEA formula spending share floor and ceiling of 3 per cent. and 3.75 per cent. are applied. These figures are as announced at the provisional local government settlement.
	
		 million
		
			  200405 
			  EFSS before floors and ceilings EFSS after floors and ceilings 
		
		
			 City of London 1.764 1.302 
			 Camden 100.120 100.916 
			 Greenwich 161.585 160.700 
			 Hackney 142.929 140.163 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 81.081 82.024 
			 Islington 120.778 120.072 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 50.580 54.988 
			 Lambeth 150.161 150.404 
			 Lewisham 165.109 165.212 
			 Southwark 173.607 172.032 
			 Tower Hamlets 197.838 188.854 
			 Wandsworth 128.368 126.896 
			 Westminster 91.243 90.506 
			 Barking and Dagenham 114.109 115.035 
			 Barnet 171.688 171.198 
			 Bexley 131.098 134.381 
			 Brent 158.819 158.393 
			 Bromley 154.848 162.787 
			 Croydon 188.848 190.281 
			 Ealing 169.680 167.005 
			 Enfield 179.326 183.868 
			 Haringey 142.057 144.595 
			 Harrow 115.267 115.053 
			 Havering 125.699 130.444 
			 Hillingdon 149.017 147.900 
			 Hounslow 134.449 134.342 
			 Kingston upon Thames 70.300 69.904 
			 Merton 86.351 85.364 
			 Newham 219.323 219.210 
			 Redbridge 150.033 149.909 
			 Richmond upon Thames 71.882 71.850 
			 Sutton 104.151 105.644 
			 Waltham Forest 143.293 146.315 
			 Birmingham 669.571 650.132 
			 Coventry 167.999 167.248 
			 Dudley 167.200 162.610 
			 Sandwell 181.061 173.303 
			 Solihull 114.340 114.340 
			 Walsall 161.220 152.513 
			 Wolverhampton 142.789 138.272 
			 Knowsley 99.718 100.390 
			 Liverpool 271.638 271.996 
			 St. Helens 96.271 96.272 
			 Sefton 148.992 148.992 
			 Wirral 176.199 176.369 
			 Bolton 155.564 151.168 
			 Bury 97.015 97.015 
			 Manchester 260.186 260.186 
			 Oldham 143.382 138.967 
			 Rochdale 127.920 126.304 
			 Salford 119.915 119.915 
			 Stockport 137.019 137.069 
			 Tameside 125.655 125.655 
			 Trafford 112.925 112.938 
			 Wigan 163.876 163.919 
			 Barnsley 116.031 116.031 
			 Doncaster 165.404 165.475 
			 Rotherham 148.802 148.802 
			 Sheffield 258.301 258.209 
			 Bradford 299.793 288.749 
			 Calderdale 113.205 113.145 
			 Kirklees 219.389 218.940 
			 Leeds 362.994 362.994 
			 Wakefield 169.734 168.416 
			 Gateshead 95.173 95.181 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 130.952 131.564 
			 North Tyneside 96.317 96.313 
			 South Tyneside 84.239 84.179 
			 Sunderland 158.906 158.906 
			 Isles of Scilly 1.773 1.678 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 79.391 79.391 
			 City of Bristol 169.802 166.648 
			 North Somerset 89.368 89.216 
			 South Gloucestershire 125.169 125.041 
			 Hartlepool 55.189 54.519 
			 Middlesbrough 75.990 74.771 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 82.467 82.520 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 102.211 102.237 
			 City of Kingston-upon-Hull 144.446 144.573 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 158.835 158.586 
			 North East Lincolnshire 92.080 92.167 
			 North Lincolnshire 85.175 85.175 
			 North Yorkshire 283.087 283.102 
			 York 76.022 76.036 
			 Bedfordshire 204.933 205.485 
			 Luton 121.135 121.056 
			 Buckinghamshire 248.235 248.099 
			 Milton Keynes 125.343 125.049 
			 Derbyshire 364.793 365.664 
			 Derby 127.965 127.959 
			 Dorset 175.648 175.363 
			 Poole 59.763 59.791 
			 Bournemouth 68.580 68.872 
			 Durham 253.727 253.776 
			 Darlington 53.014 53.014 
			 East Sussex 222.316 236.535 
			 Brighton and Hove 101.411 108.842 
			 Hampshire 587.937 606.795 
			 Portsmouth 91.764 93.604 
			 Southampton 110.462 113.528 
			 Leicestershire 293.424 294.246 
			 Leicester 172.869 172.802 
			 Rutland 17.207 16.807 
			 Staffordshire 403.262 403.191 
			 Stoke on Trent 129.956 128.872 
			 Wiltshire 217.519 217.111 
			 Swindon 96.478 97.258 
			 Bracknell Forest 52.563 52.563 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 65.606 65.512 
			 West Berkshire 82.575 81.204 
			 Reading 61.992 59.826 
			 Slough 76.380 76.437 
			 Wokingham 78.514 77.008 
			 Cambridgeshire 263.679 263.139 
			 Peterborough 101.333 101.086 
			 Cheshire 334.188 334.188 
			 Halton 72.080 72.170 
			 Warrington 100.320 100.323 
			 Devon 321.672 321.601 
			 Plymouth 126.934 127.087 
			 Torbay 61.837 61.784 
			 Essex 658.698 701.999 
			 Southend 87.400 92.273 
			 Thurrock 80.789 84.096 
			 Herefordshire 84.055 84.055 
			 Worcestershire 253.776 253.498 
			 Kent 688.677 725.321 
			 Medway 144.235 148.638 
			 Lancashire 593.907 595.392 
			 Blackburn 93.106 92.580 
			 Blackpool 74.614 74.572 
			 Nottinghamshire 373.900 374.433 
			 Nottingham City 147.408 144.519 
			 Shropshire 135.222 135.205 
			 The Wrekin 90.911 90.907 
			 Cornwall 245.872 245.863 
			 Cumbria 248.261 248.047 
			 Gloucestershire 277.292 277.292 
			 Hertfordshire 557.018 564.551 
			 Isle of Wight Council 67.160 67.874 
			 Lincolnshire 336.164 335.663 
			 Norfolk 374.454 375.347 
			 Northamptonshire 337.605 337.429 
			 Northumberland 156.863 156.702 
			 Oxfordshire 287.653 287.762 
			 Somerset 237.086 237.617 
			 Suffolk 319.484 319.484 
			 Surrey 487.405 487.007 
			 Warwickshire 249.596 249.140 
			 West Sussex 348.263 361.527

English and Mathematics Tests

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of pupils achieved level 4 or above in Key Stage 2 test results for 11-year-olds in (a) English and (b) mathematics in 2003 in the London boroughs of (i) Redbridge and (ii) Waltham Forest.

David Miliband: The following table shows the percentage of pupils who achieved the expected level (Level 4) or above in the 2003 National Curriculum Key Stage 2 assessment tests in (a) English and (b) mathematics in the London boroughs of (i) Redbridge and (ii) Waltham Forest.
	
		
			  (a) English (b) Mathematics 
		
		
			 (i) Redbridge 78 73 
			 (ii) Waltham Forest 69 68

Further Eudcation (Plumbing-related Crafts)

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students in England attended further education classes in (a) plumbing and (b) plumbing-related crafts in each of the last three years.

Alan Johnson: The numbers of learners enrolled on plumbing and related courses at further education sector colleges in the three years to 2001/02 are shown in the table below. Due to the variety of plumbing and related courses on offer, it is not possible to distinguish between those courses in plumbing and those in plumbing related crafts.
	
		Learners enrolled on plumbing and related courses at further education sector colleges in England: 1999/2000 to 2001/02 -- thousands
		
			  Learners 
		
		
			  
			  
			 1999/2000 21.8 
			 2000/01 23.9 
			 2001/02 29.8 
		
	
	Source:
	LSC Individualised Student Record.

Higher Education

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the link between applications to universities and social background of students.

Alan Johnson: The social class gap among those entering higher education is unacceptably wide. The most recent UCAS figures show that in 2001 71 per cent. of applicants came from the top three social classes and only 29 per cent. from the bottom three.
	The main problem is prior attainment. 19 per cent. of 18-year-olds from the three lower social classes achieve two or more A Levels, compared to 50 per cent. from the three higher social classes.
	The Government have put in place a range of policies to raise attainment and aspirations. These were summarised in Widening participation in higher education, published in April 2003. A copy is available in the House of Commons Library.

Information Technology

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers were provided with information technology equipment to use in their own home in the last year for which figures are available.

Charles Clarke: The Laptops for Teachers initiative provided 68,507 teachers with a laptop computer for use at home and school during the 2002/03 financial year. To date, the initiative has provided another 60,235 teachers with laptops in the current financial year.

School Budgets

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the schools in Huntingdon which ran a budget deficit in the year ending 31 March 2003; and how much this deficit was for each school.

David Miliband: The information requested is submitted to the Department according to local education authority areas, rather than districts within an area. Huntingdon is a district of Cambridgeshire local education authority. The information for Cambridgeshire LEA is as follows:
	
		Cambridgeshire schools showing a deficit budget in the year ending 31 March 2003
		
			 School name DfES number Deficit budget(23)() 
		
		
			 Abbey Meadows Primary School 2,450 (12,317) 
			 Brington C of E Primary School 3,081 (4,470) 
			 Bushmead Primary School 2,452 (55,343) 
			 Cherry Hinton Community Junior School 2,312 (36,500) 
			 Chesterton Community College 4,029 (220,765) 
			 City of Ely Community College 4,083 (138,722) 
			 Coleridge Community College 4,031 (84,470) 
			 Ernulf Community School 4,077 (198,638) 
			 Fawcett Primary School 2,336 (13,287) 
			 Fowlmere Primary School 2,011 (1,892) 
			 Hinchingbrooke School 4,503 (175,812) 
			 John Falkner Community Infant School 2,035 (71) 
			 Kings Hedges Primary School 2,446 (41,371) 
			 Little Paxton Primary School 2,293 (33,790) 
			 Melbourn Village College 4,040 (345,183) 
			 Middlefield Community Primary School 2,257 (21,135) 
			 Petersfield C of E Aided Primary School 3,331 (19,240) 
			 Ridgefield Primary School 2,453 (12,977) 
			 Sawston Village College 5,408 (84,516) 
			 Sawtry Community College 5,403 (1,013,001) 
			 St. Alban's RC Primary School 3,360 (15,361) 
			 St. Anne's C of E Primary School 3,384 (38,893) 
			 St. Helen's Primary School 5,200 (7,699) 
			 St. John's C of E Primary School 3,072 (20,853) 
			 St. Peter's School 5,412 (81,341) 
			 St. Philip's C of E Aided Primary School 3,358 (7,960) 
			 The Cromwell Community College 4,045 (1,842) 
			 The Manor Community College 4,057 (583,428) 
			 The Meridian Primary School 2,059 (6,828) 
			 The Windmill Special School 7,009 (93,747) 
			 Thomas Eaton Primary School 2,090 (7,273) 
			 Witchford Village College 4,055 (163,030) 
		
	
	(23) The data are as reported by Cambridgeshire LEA's within their 200203 Section 52 Outturn Statement (table B) submitted to the DfES.
	Notes:
	1. Deficit budget is taken from table B column 13-other revenue balance. This includes the cumulative balance of income less expenditure from revenue funding sources during the financial year and the balance from previous year.
	2. The data are as at 6 January 2004. Currently the data remains provisional as it is subject to validation and could change.

School Budgets

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools in Lancashire ran a deficit budget in each of the last three years.

David Miliband: The information requested is given in the following table.
	
		Lancashire schools reporting a deficit budget in each of the last three years
		
			  Number of Schools 
		
		
			 200001 26 
			 200102 16 
			 200203 18 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The data are as reported by Lancashire education authority within their Section 52 Outturn statements (Table B) submitted to the DfES.
	2. Section 52 data for 200203 is regarded as provisional and is therefore subject to changes by Lancashire LEA which may alter the results for that period.

School Governance

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the (a) total cost and (b) cost per issue was of producing and distributing the document, Statutory Guidance on the School Governance (England) Regulation 2003, to schools.

David Miliband: The Department issued statutory and non-statutory guidance on the following governance regulations in 2003: constitution, procedures, new schools, governance federations and collaboration regulations. The total cost of the production and distribution of this guidance for schools and LEAs was 25,986.26. The average cost for each issue of guidance was 10 pence.

School Meals

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the provision of school meals by Lancashire county council; and how many meals are served each day in (a) high schools and (b) primary schools (i) in Lancashire and (ii) in each Lancashire district.

Charles Clarke: From April 2000, funding for school meals was delegated to all secondary schools. Primary and special schools can opt for delegation. All schools in Lancashire have the budget for school meals delegated to them, and have individual service level agreements with Lancashire County Commercial Services: schools can buy back in to the local authorities school meal service if they wish to do so.
	This Department does not collect information on the take-up of paid meals. However, the attached table shows the take-up of free school meals in each Lancashire district.
	
		Maintained primary and secondary schools(24): school meal arrangements January 2003By Lancashire Local Education Authority and each district within the authority
		
			  All pupils 
			  Numberon roll Number of pupils taking free school meals Percentage of pupils taking free school meals Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 
		
		
			  Maintained primary schools
			 Lancashire local education authority 98,784 13,172 13.3 15,575 15.8 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 150 5 3.3 6 4.0 
			 Burnley 8,300 1,625 19.6 1,977 23.8 
			 Chorley 8,755 811 9.3 961 11.0 
			 Fylde 5,040 386 7.7 412 8.2 
			 Hyndburn 8,094 1,322 16.3 1,649 20.4 
			 Lancaster 10,661 1,520 14.3 1,871 17.5 
			 Pendle 7,904 1,487 18.8 1,753 22.2 
			 Preston 12,062 1,991 16.5 2,383 19.8 
			 Ribble Valley 4,791 171 3.6 201 4.2 
			 Rossendale 6,044 838 13.9 942 15.6 
			 South Ribble 8,919 754 8.5 822 9.2 
			 West Lancashire 9,804 1,375 14.0 1,578 16.1 
			 Wigan  
			 Wyre 8,260 887 10.7 1,020 12.3 
			   
			  Maintained secondary schools   
			 Lancashire local education authority 76,412 8,819 11.5 10,749 14.1 
			 Blackburn with Darwen  
			 Burnley 6,476 1,094 16.9 1,488 23.0 
			 Chorley 5,757 474 8.2 575 10.0 
			 Fylde 3,831 244 6.4 309 8.1 
			 Hyndburn 5,052 820 16.2 968 19.2 
			 Lancaster 9,037 868 9.6 1,146 12.7 
			 Pendle 5,813 1,062 18.3 1,250 21.5 
			 Preston 7,236 1,199 16.6 1,340 18.5 
			 Ribble Valley 5,074 263 5.2 291 5.7 
			 Rossendale 5,475 643 11.7 768 14.0 
			 South Ribble 8,687 666 7.7 808 9.3 
			 West Lancashire 6,107 813 13.3 1,013 16.6 
			 Wigan 922 133 14.4 133 14.4 
			 Wyre 6,945 540 7.8 660 9.5 
		
	
	(24) Includes middle schools as deemed.
	(25) Includes dually registered pupils and boarding pupils.
	Source:
	Annual Schools' Census

School-leavers (Qualifications)

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many pupils left school in 2003 with no GCSEs;
	(2)  how many pupils left school with fewer than five GCSEs at Grade G in each year since 1997.

David Miliband: The information requested is as follows:
	The number of 15-year-old pupils who left school in 2003 with no GCSEs is 32,590.
	The number of 15-year-old pupils who left school with fewer than five GCSEs at grades A*-G is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Academic year Number of 15-year-old pupils with less than 5+ A*-G 
		
		
			 1997 79,602 
			 1998 71,742 
			 1999 66,884 
			 2000 64,178 
			 2001 67,044 
			 2002 67,065 
			 2003 69,851

Specialist Schools

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to secure match funding for specialist schools in highly deprived former coalfield areas; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: We acknowledge that for some schools in deprived former coalfield areas, raising the 50,000 sponsorship required to make a specialist school application can be difficult.
	The Department grant-aids the Specialist Schools Trust (SST) and the Youth Sport Trust to assist schools with raising sponsorship. We have also introduced a 'Partnership Fund' to provide support to schools that can demonstrate that sustained efforts to raise the full amount of sponsorship have been unsuccessful. The fund is administered by the SST in accordance with the Department's criteria. In the October 2003 specialist school application round, 13 schools in coalfield areas received a contribution from this fund.

Specialist Schools

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many Lancashire schools have applied for specialist status; and how many were successful.

David Miliband: There are 12 local education authorities (LEAs), which cover the county of Lancashire. The information requested is set out in the table by LEA.
	
		
			 Local education authority Number of schools which have applied for specialist status Number of schools which applied successfully 
		
		
			 Blackburn with Darwen 5 4 
			 Blackpool 5 4 
			 Bolton 12 9 
			 Bury 8 4 
			 Lancashire 63 33 
			 Manchester 18 11 
			 Oldham 8 6 
			 Rochdale 6 5 
			 Salford 6 3 
			 Tameside 13 5 
			 Trafford 17 12 
			 Wigan 19 12 
			 Total 180 108 
		
	
	Applications from schools in the October 2003 specialist school application round are currently being assessed. A list of successful schools from this round will be not be announced until the end of January and have therefore not been included in the list of successful applications.

Teaching Assistants

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effects of the increase in teaching assistants covering non-contact time with classes;
	(2)  what percentage of classroom teaching was covered by classroom assistants without teaching professionals being present in the class in 2002/03.

David Miliband: It is up to head teachers to determine how they deploy teachers and teaching assistants in their schools taking account of current regulations and guidance. Information about how teaching assistants' time is spent is not held centrally.
	Standards of attainment are rising and the quality of teaching is the best ever. And teaching assistants are playing their part in raising standards. A recent project has demonstrated the positive impact of teaching assistants on standards. In 18 of the largest LEAs, additional provision and training for teaching assistants was provided last year for around 30 per cent. of their Year 6 classes. Results from the 2003 Key Stage 2 tests shows that performance in participating schools appears to have improved by 3 per cent. points more than the national average for English and 2 per cent. points for maths.

Tuition Fees

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what legislation was implemented between 1997 and 2001 preventing the introduction of university top-up fees.

Alan Johnson: The Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 section 26 imposes conditions upon tuition fees for full-time undergraduates. Section 26(5) provides that the amount of tuition fee that can be charged should not exceed the maximum amount of tuition fee grant. The Student Support regulations, which are laid annually, set out the maximum amount of tuition fee grant. In 2003/04, the maximum amount of tuition fee grant is 1,125.

University Bursaries

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what the income levels will be at which students will qualify for the receipt of university bursaries;
	(2)  what his policy is on the indexation of family income levels at which students will qualify to receive (a) grants and fee remission and (b) university bursaries.

Alan Johnson: The family income thresholds are uprated annually to take account of inflation. The uprating is based on the Treasury's forecast in October each year of the forecast rise in the Retail Price Index (less Mortgage Interest Repayments).
	As regards university bursaries, the level and type of financial support will differ between institutions. However, as a minimum, we want to ensure, via the Director for Fair Access that no student who qualifies for maximum state support, in terms of the new higher education grant and the existing fee remission grant, has to take on additional debt as a result of higher fees. The director will expect more from institutions with further to go in widening participation.

University Funding

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how much of the total sum of new funding that the Government believes universities in England require is required by universities in (a) the South East region and (b) London;
	(2)  how much of the total sum of new funding that the Government believes universities in England require is required by universities in the North West region;
	(3)  how much of the total sum of new funding that the Government believes universities in England require is required for (a) physical science, (b) arts and (c) social science courses.

Charles Clarke: The funding for higher education in England between 200203 and 200506 is set out in the White Paper 'the future of higher education' (Cm 5735). There are increases of over 6 per cent. above inflation in each year so that by 200506 the overall funding reaches almost 10 billion.
	The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) allocate funds to higher education institutions according to a formula which takes account of the number and type of students at the institution, the courses they are taking, and other factors relating to the institution such as whether it has old or historic buildings. The funds are paid to institutions as a block grant and it is for the institution to decide how to spend the money.
	Under our proposals for variable fees, it will be for institutions to decide the level of any fee which they charge, taking account of a number of factors, including their financial needs.